The Weekly Breach Breakdown Podcast by ITRC - Show Me the Money - S6E6

Show Transcript

Welcome to the Identity Theft Resource Center's (ITRC’s) Weekly Breach Breakdown for February 21, 2025. I'm Alex Achten, Senior Director of Communications & Media Relations of the ITRC. Thanks to Sentilink for supporting the ITRC and this podcast. Each week, we look at the most recent events and trends related to data security and privacy. Today, we examine a rise in Economic Impact Payment text scams, also known as EIP text scams. 

I am not sure how many of our listeners have seen the 1996 film, Jerry Maguire. However, I am sure all our listeners have heard the well-known phrase uttered by characters in the film, “Show Me the Money!” That phrase is the title of this episode because we are looking at a new twist on an old scam where scammers are hoping that promises of money will trip up consumers.

EIP scams grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic when EIP payments were authorized as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Emails were sent to people impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and claiming the recipients were eligible to receive a payment. They’d also say that each week, they were sending payments to eligible individuals as tax returns were processed. In the emails, there would be a button to click that said, “Claim My Payment.”

Now, scammers are using text messages to target you and me with the same scam. The ITRC has begun to see EIP text scams where people receive text messages claiming they are eligible for a payment if they provide their personal information to a bogus website. A text message recently received by multiple ITRC staffers read:

“Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

You are eligible to receive a $1,400 Economic Impact Payment. Please provide your accurate personal information. We will deposit the amount into your bank account or mail a paper check within 1 to 2 business days.”

Below that message is a malicious link for you to click to provide your personal information. The message also says, “Please reply with “y,” then exit the text message. Open it again, click the link, or copy it into your Safari browser and open it.”

As enticing as that may sound (Who doesn’t want $1,400?), it’s bogus. The IRS will never text or email anyone. Ignore them, and don’t share any personal information. The criminals want you to respond or click on the link so they can steal your personal and financial information to commit different forms of identity crimes, including financial identity theft.

To avoid EIP text scams, you should only share personal information with the IRS on the official www.IRS.gov website or the representative you contacted by calling the IRS.

Other tips to avoid EIP text scams include:

• Ignore calls claiming to be from the IRS. While IRS scams by email and text continue circulating, identity criminals could call you, too. If you receive an unsolicited call claiming to be from the IRS, ignore it. The IRS will not call anyone unsolicited, either. 
• Send phishing emails to the IRS. The IRS asks anyone who receives a phony email to forward it to phishing@irs.gov and note that it seems to be a phishing scam seeking your information.
• Report the identity crime. You can report identity fraud to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting www.IdentityTheft.gov.

As our other host of this podcast, James E. Lee, would say, those scammers – they’re a crafty lot! If you want to know more about how to protect your business or personal information, EIP text scams, or think you have been the victim of an identity crime, you can speak with an expert ITRC advisor on the phone, via text message, chat live on the web, or exchange emails during our normal business hours (6 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started.

Thanks again to Sentilink for their support of the ITRC and this podcast. Please hit the like button for this episode and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

Next week, be sure to tune in to our Fraudian Slip podcast, where we will hear audio from a panel titled “Identity Crime Sucks – So What Can We Do About it in an Era of Deregulation and Smaller Government?” Speakers on the panel include Kemba Walden, President of Paladin Global Institute; John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at the National Consumers League; Dan Lips, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity; and the ITRC President, James E. Lee. The panel was held last month at the Identity, Authentication, and the Road Ahead Cybersecurity Policy Forum hosted by the Better Identity Coalition, the FIDO Alliance and the ITRC.

We will return in two weeks with another episode of the Weekly Breach Breakdown. I'm Alex Achten. Until then, thanks for listening.