The IRS is warning of a recent surge in the incidence of scams in which fraudsters send text messages that appear to come from the agency as a means of stealing individuals’ personal and financial information.

In a news release September 28, the IRS said this year it has identified thousands of fraudulent web domains tied to multiple “smishing” scams, which involve the two standards for texts: multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short message service (SMS).

Smishing attacks target mobile phone users by delivering bogus texts that often look like they’re coming from the IRS, attempting to lure the recipient with offers of fake COVID relief, tax credits, or help setting up an IRS online account, the release explained.

“In recent months, and especially in the last few weeks, IRS-themed smishing has increased exponentially,” the agency stated.

For more information about these scams or if you are a recipient of such a scam,  visit the IRS website.

“This is phishing on an industrial scale so thousands of people can be at risk of receiving these scam messages,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said, referring to a type of online attack in which an email recipient is tricked into revealing sensitive information to the sender. In recent months, Rettig said, the IRS has reported: “multiple large-scale smishing campaigns that have delivered thousands-and even hundreds of thousands of IRS-themed messages in hours or a few days, far exceeding previous levels of activity.”

Scam texts in a smishing attack often ask the recipient to click a link where a phishing website will attempt to collect the person’s information or send malicious code onto their phones. The IRS emphasized that it doesn’t send emails or text messages requesting personal or financial information or account numbers and said messages of this sort “should all be red flags for taxpayers.”

The Security Summit, a partnership involving the IRS, state tax agencies, and the tax community, is promoting October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the agency’s release reminded taxpayers and tax professionals to be on the lookout for phishing scams and other schemes that could put sensitive tax data at risk.