One needs to be always aware of Tax Scams , including tax refund scams , which are carried out by scamsters who pretend to be Attack.Phishing from the IRS of USA , HMRC of UK , CRA of Canada , Income Tax Department of India and such . Scamsters contact Attack.Phishing you via fake emails , phone calls , recorded message , SMS , etc , and either scare you with the possibility of some legal action or entice Attack.Phishing you with a tax refund ! Every tax season , Tax Scams start doing the rounds . Emails , Phone calls , or recorded messages by cybercriminals impersonating Attack.Phishing authentic tax agents have become an order of the day and continue to remain a major threat to taxpayers . The scam artists use sinister designs that threaten police arrest , deportation , and even license revocation . With the increases in its popularity , fraudsters are also busy finding more ways to increase efficiency . Earlier , the major targets were elderly people and immigrant population . Slowly , the focus has shifted to methods that rely on auto-dialers , robocalling , and voice mail messages to hit as many taxpayers as possible . The story begins with an automated call . It plays a recorded message warning you that it ’ s “ the final notice ” from the tax agency such as the Internal Revenue Service , Indian Income Tax Department , HM Revenue and Customs , or the Tax department of your country . Or it could begin with an email . In any case , the recorded voice or email purports to be Attack.Phishing from tax inspector and goes on to specify about the course of action , the agency is likely to follow against you like , planning a lawsuit against you , and if you don ’ t return this call , you could land up in jail , soon . Attacks , such as these use fear as bait Attack.Phishing or the lure Attack.Phishing of a tax refund on the other hand . They rely on social engineering tactics . One such message tells recipients that there ’ s a pending law enforcement action against them as they have evaded tax . It is mainly used to target U.S. taxpayers . The scam pretends to contain information about a subpoena . It could contain a web link which it wants you to click . The link could take you to a fraudulent website . Or the email could include an attachment . The file is a “ document file ” that Microsoft Word opens in Protected View . It contains an instruction to Enable Editing . If the Enable Editing button is clicked , malicious Macros in the ‘ document ’ downloads a malware . So one needs to always exercise utmost caution in either of the cases .