People have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams. Be on the lookout for scammers using the advance Child Tax Credit to steal your money and your personal information. The IRS webpage Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts can help you recognize the telltale signs of a scam.
The IRS doesn't initiate contact by email, text messages, or social media channels to request personal or financial information related to advance Child Tax Credit payments, nor will they ask you to pay for help or information to receive this payment. Official government tax related information and help is always free.
These pages have official information about advanced payments of the Child Tax Credit:
Don’t provide personal or financial information in response to advertisements, phone calls, emails with attachments or links, texts, messages, or social media posts claiming to have special information about the advance Child Tax Credit or offering to help you apply for benefits or get payments faster or in larger amount.
If you encounter this type of activity, receive a suspicious email, or hear something that sounds too good to be true, go to the IRS Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts site for warnings about recently identified scams, and visit the Report Phishing and Online Scams and Tax Scams - How to Report Them page to report it. Reporting scams helps keep others from falling for them and gives federal agencies leads to identify and stop them.
Watch this IRS video: Don’t Fall for Tax Scams About the Child Tax Credit
Resources:
Advance Child Tax Credit Payments in 2021
Report Phishing and Online Scams
What To Do When Someone Fraudulently Claims Your Dependent
2021 Child Tax Credit and Advance Child Tax Credit Payments — Topic A: General Information
How to know it’s really the IRS calling or knocking on your door
TAS Tax Tips: Beware of scammers offering help with getting advanced child tax credit payments