{"id":52782,"date":"2026-02-19T15:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=52782"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:38:44","slug":"february-2026-five-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-tax-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/19\/february-2026-five-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-tax-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"February 2026 | Five Ways to Protect Yourself from Tax Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"923\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/02\/ACC_FY26_UFCU_Financial-Tips_Feb_Infohub.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/02\/ACC_FY26_UFCU_Financial-Tips_Feb_Infohub.png 923w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/02\/ACC_FY26_UFCU_Financial-Tips_Feb_Infohub-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/02\/ACC_FY26_UFCU_Financial-Tips_Feb_Infohub-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/02\/ACC_FY26_UFCU_Financial-Tips_Feb_Infohub-150x90.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Did you know that tax scams aren\u2019t just a seasonal threat? Fraudsters are at work year-round, targeting taxpayers to steal money or personal information. University Federal Credit Union (UFCU), in partnership with ACC\u2019s Student Money Management Office, shares practical steps to help you recognize scams and protect your finances.<\/p>\n<p><em>A Message from University Federal Credit Union<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Nobody likes tax season, and not just because you must prepare and file taxes. Many people think that\u2019s when scammers amp up their game. But the reality is that fraudsters are at work year-round using tax scams to try to trick you into giving them your money or personal information.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of Tax Scams<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/tax-scams\/recognize-tax-scams-and-fraud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IRS website<\/a> stays up to date with the latest and most common tax scams. Most fall into one of these categories:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Impersonation<\/strong> \u2014 Someone tries to convince you they work for the IRS to gain your personal information. These fraudsters don\u2019t just target individual taxpayers \u2014 students and staff of universities, human resources personnel, and tax preparers also have been targeted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Misinformation<\/strong> \u2014 Scammers promise big refunds or tax credits if you use their service. In particular, scams have been reported about false preparers of the Employee Retention Credit, fake software to manually fill out W-2 forms with inflated income information to get big returns, or bogus entities that pressure people to use their services to settle tax debts or recover unclaimed refunds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fraud<\/strong> \u2014 Someone files a fraudulent tax return, unemployment claim, or form to be eligible for a tax benefit using your stolen identity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protect Yourself from Tax Scammers<\/h3>\n<p>With a little knowledge and caution, you can do more to protect yourself against tax scams with these five tips:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ignore emails, calls, and texts.<\/strong> The best way to avoid getting hooked by phishing scams is to know that the IRS contacts taxpayers by US mail. They don\u2019t email, text, use paid delivery services, or try to connect with you by social media. And if the IRS does need to call you, they\u2019ll do so after first sending you a letter through the US mail.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safeguard personal information.<\/strong> Don\u2019t give out details like social security numbers, account numbers, PINs, or passwords to people on the phone or through websites unless you\u2019ve verified their legitimacy. Follow good practice of using unique usernames and passwords for all your online accounts and change them if you have been notified that an organization\u2019s system has been compromised.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Never click on emailed links.<\/strong> Again, the IRS won\u2019t email you. So that link won\u2019t be legitimate, and it could contain malware that can infect your computer and steal your passwords and other personal information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>File early.<\/strong> The sooner you file your tax return, the less likely a fraudster will be able to file a fake return if they\u2019ve stolen your identity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Report scams, identity theft, and fraud.<\/strong> If you\u2019re being scammed or think your identity was stolen and used to file false information, report it to the IRS(opens in a new window) to protect yourself and help them warn others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">But What If I Really Do Need to Talk to the IRS?<\/h3>\n<p>If you need help with understanding your taxes or settling your tax debt, go straight to the source. Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IRS.gov<\/a> and click the help menu to find the legitimate online and in-person resources that can help you. Keep these tips in mind and you can spot tax refund scams and protect yourself against falling prey to tax scammers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want to learn more?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Connect with<a href=\"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> ACC\u2019s Student Money Management team<\/a> to access tools designed to support you or to find a schedule of events and workshops that can help you with your personal finance questions.<\/p>\n<p>Check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufcu.org\/ACC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.ufcu.org\/ACC<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/ufcu.org\/locations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">visit your local branch<\/a> anytime to chat with a Personal Financial Representative. <a href=\"https:\/\/ufcu.org\/locations\/acc-highland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UFCU Highland Branch<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/ufcu.org\/locations\/details\/acc-eastview-campus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eastview Branch<\/a> are now open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that tax scams aren\u2019t just a seasonal threat? Fraudsters are at work year-round, targeting taxpayers to steal money or personal information. University Federal Credit Union (UFCU), in partnership with ACC\u2019s Student Money &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/19\/february-2026-five-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-tax-scams\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":52783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,12,13],"tags":[1100,2090,2787],"class_list":["post-52782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","category-business-and-community","category-current-students","tag-student-money-management-office","tag-ufcu","tag-ufcu-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52785,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52782\/revisions\/52785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}