Dupaco Credit Union in Dubuque, Iowa urged members to stay alert to IRS impersonation scams ahead of the 2026 tax season, as fraudsters use increasingly sophisticated tactics to steal personal information, refunds and access to financial accounts.

The warning came as the IRS highlighted its annual "Dirty Dozen" list of common scams. The list was part of a broader awareness campaign led by the Security Summit, a partnership among the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation's tax industry.

"Tax‑related scams spike every year, but this season we're seeing fraudsters use technology that makes their impersonations startlingly believable," Jill Gogel, vice president, fraud services at Dupaco, said. "If someone reaches out claiming to be from the IRS – especially with urgency or threats – stop immediately. A pause and a quick verification could prevent significant financial harm." 

Two scams on this year's IRS "Dirty Dozen" list that the $3.6 million Dupaco said it is seeing more frequently involve increasingly advanced uses of technology. One is phishing and smishing – fraudulent emails, direct messages and text messages that appear to come from the IRS. These remain among the most common scams this tax season, often using urgent language or links to fake websites designed to capture sensitive information. The other is the fast-growing use of AI-enabled phone impersonation. Scammers can now clone voices to sound like someone a victim knows or trusts – a tactic known as deepfake AI – and pair it with spoofed caller IDs and automated robocalls to create a sense of urgency. 

"It's important to remember the IRS will not initiate contact by email, text message or social media for any personal information," Gogel said. 

Gogel said that scammers often rely on urgency and emotional pressure, using phrases such as "verify your account," "claim your refund" or "your account is locked."
 
"The IRS will never demand immediate payment or request payment through gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or other payment apps like Venmo or Zelle," Gogel said.
 
Gogel shared tips given to credit union members to protect themselves, especially during tax season, including:

  • Ignore unsolicited messages claiming to be from the IRS via email, text or social media;
  • Verify suspicious phone calls by contacting the IRS directly at its published phone numbers listed on IRS.gov;
  • Enable two-factor authentication on all financial accounts; 
  • Monitor your credit report for signs of identity theft;
  • Set up eNotifiers to receive real-time alerts about account activity; and
  • Slow down and trust your gut. If something seems off, it usually is. 

Credit unions in Ohio are also seeing a rise in scams and fraud. Ohio credit unions across the state hosted roundtable discussions with federal and local law enforcement and community stakeholders to discuss the increase in fraud and efforts to prevent residents from falling victim to financial scams.
 
As reported by the Youngstown Business Journal on Jan. 24, statistics were cited by Donna Luzier, fraud manager and bank secrecy act officer for the $1.9 billion, Warren, Ohio-based 7 17 Credit Union, to start a roundtable discussion that included leadership from local credit unions and law enforcement. She shared that consumers lost more than $12 billion to fraud in 2024, an increase of 25% from 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Americans lost a combined total of more than $8.5 billion to investment and imposter scams alone.

During the roundtable, participants shared ways to help credit union members recognize potential fraud activity. They stressed that the best defense against scammers is to be educated. They also recommended verifying that telephone calls and emails requesting personal information are coming from legitimate sources, and urged people to update passwords often.

Roundtable attendees included Mike Kurish, CEO of ASECU ($211 million, Youngstown, Ohio); Kelly Reddy, business development manager for Unity Catholic Federal Credit Union ($99 million, Parma, Ohio); Mario Duvnjak, COO for Cardinal Credit Union ($358 million, Mentor, Ohio) and Brittany Socie, assistant fraud manager at 7 17.

Joyce Moed can be reached at joyce.moed@arc-network.com.

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