by North Forty News Staff | NorthFortyNews.com
Officials caution Northern Colorado residents to stay vigilant as fraudsters target taxpayers nationwide
The Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) is warning residents about a text-based scam that has begun surfacing in other states and is likely to target Coloradans, including those in Northern Colorado.
The fraudulent messages claim to offer tax refunds in exchange for personal banking information and threaten consequences if recipients fail to respond by a deadline. In other states, these texts have directed taxpayers to websites designed to mimic legitimate government pages but are intended to steal personal and financial information.
Officials stress that the CDOR will never send unsolicited text messages requesting banking or personal details. Northern Colorado residents who receive suspicious texts are urged not to respond or click any links. Instead, they should report the scam at StopFraudColorado.gov.
Taxpayers are also encouraged to share fraudulent messages with federal investigators through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov) or the Federal Trade Commission (reportfraud.ftc.gov), including the sender’s phone number or email and any website links provided.
While this scam has been reported in states including California, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and cities such as Philadelphia, state officials believe it is only a matter of time before similar messages appear in Colorado.
For residents needing legitimate tax help but unable to visit a service center, CDOR recently launched TAX2GO, a mobile program bringing tax advice directly to Coloradans. More details are available at Tax.Colorado.gov/TAX2GO.
Source: Colorado Department of Revenue