A New Scam Is Making the Rounds Just in Time for Tax Season

If you haven’t heard of “vishing,” you may be at risk.

Tax season is already an unpleasant and much-dreaded time but, for many, it also carries a higher risk of getting scammed for hundreds or even thousands of dollars -- every year, fraudsters will try to take advantage of people’s anxiety about receiving a letter from the IRS to get them to transfer money or give away sensitive information.

Common red flag phrases like “urgent” and “your account is at risk of being shut down” come up from year to year but, in 2023, there has been a rise in a new scam called “vishing.”

Short for “voice phishing,” vishing refers to impersonating someone else with the purposes of scamming by phone rather than text or email. Many use voice-alteration software while others simply repeat the same scam from thousands of fake phone numbers that are very difficult to track...