The Philadelphia Department of Revenue recently announced a surge in fraudulent text messages targeting Pennsylvania residents. These messages impersonate the department and falsely claim to offer refund petitions and request recipients to click on malicious links and provide banking information.
The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue issued a similar warning about a phishing scam involving fraudulent text messages that impersonate department officials and attempt to trick recipients into sharing sensitive personal and financial information.
Please be advised, neither the Philadelphia Department of Revenue nor the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue will ever request sensitive banking or refund-related information via text message.
How to protect yourself:
- Do not click on any links, reply, or provide personal information in response to these messages
- Report suspicious texts as spam and delete them immediately
- Remain vigilant and skeptical of unsolicited requests for sensitive information
- Verify official communications and only trust websites ending in phila.gov or pa.gov.
- If you believe you have shared personal or financial information, report it to:
- FBI Philadelphia Field Office: (215) 418-4000 or https://tips.fbi.gov
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): https://www.ic3.gov
We will keep you informed if we learn of any additional fraudulent activity targeting taxpayers. As always, if you have any questions, please contact your Kreischer Miller relationship professional or any member of our State and Local Tax team.