GREENSBORO, N.C. — You've heard this over and over and over again when it comes to texts and emails: DON'T CLICK THE LINK.
If you click the link, it could infect your computer or lead you to a scam site. I’m not here to tell you to click a link, but I do want you to click to find out who the message is really from.
"The scammer can mask where the email is coming from, so if you see that it’s coming from the IRS and you click on the "from" or "sender,"
it will tell you exactly who it's coming from and if doesn't say @irs.gov, it's a fraud,” said Mona Passmore, IRS Criminal Investigations, Charlotte Field Office.
The IRS is issuing a new warning about an email that has what looks like the IRS logo and it claims the third round of stimulus payments are due to you. There's a Claim My Payment button, which looks just like the IRS portal buttons. And don’t miss what is on the bottom of the email that says for security reasons they're recording your IP address and if you deliberately put in wrong info, it's a crime.
The email looks very real. This is why the IRS is sending out a warning to click, not on the link or the button, but on the source.
“See who really is the sender, to see who it's coming from," Passmore said.
The IRS is not going to text you or email you out of the blue to ask for your banking info. The IRS has a website set up to take your information and if you want to update your information, you can, but the IRS is not going to come after you for it.