By Shae Rozzi, Fox23 News
Time is running out to file your taxes. The deadline is Wednesday April 15 and scammers may try to take advantage of any last-minute filers.
Seeing a reel posted by the IRS featuring a pug looking to either make a prank call or just answer one may be a funny sight, but it comes with a message: Prank calls may be funny, but scam calls? Not so much.
The IRS warns scammers may try to steal your information over the phone or online by pretending to be from the IRS.
On the agency’s website, they warn of the 2026 Dirty Dozen: 12 key scams to watch for.
The top one: IRS impersonation emails known as phising, or by text known as smishing.
“So a lot of the tax scams we see are going to be phishing scams,” says Amie. “Those are going to come by text message or email, and they’re going to ask for more additional information or say you forgot something. So be really careful on those. The other one we see a lot are overpayment scams saying that, ‘Oh, we needed to send you more money. So please fill out this form or give us your credit card information so that we can send you an additional refund.’ These are scams. You have to be really careful.”
“I’m wrapping up my Friday follow ups and wanted to connect since your records still shows unresolved balance issues that could result in additional charges or potential collection actions if left open.” the voicemail went.
They say they’re not behind on their taxes and the husband is the one who files, not the wife, so it stood out to them that someone claiming to help would be calling her number.
The IRS also warns about viral tax hacks on social media that can include misleading advice. Remember if you claim credit you don’t qualify for, that can lead to refund delays, audits, penalties or worse.
Back to the pug in the IRS Facebook video, to avoid falling for any scams, they say “Paws [pause], hang up and report it.” The IRS will never send you a direct message through social media and they do not send text messages without your permission.
The biggest thing they want taxpayers to know is that they do not demand payment right away.
If you get any type of message saying you owe money, you should contact the IRS directly on your own and not through a message sent to you to make sure you pay only the amount you owe.
