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Tax Fraud Scams

IMPORTANT: Don’t Allow Fraudsters to File Your Taxes for You

You may be at risk of fraudulent tax returns filed in your name if you have shared personal information and fallen victim to a scam or phishing campaign.

Fraudsters are always on the lookout for easy targets, and tax season offers them the opportunity to file tax returns in other peoples’ names. You must protect your personal information, and the University’s, to avoid falling victim to common phishing campaigns.  These scams often result in compromised accounts and passwords, identity theft, financial loss and more.

The 2023 tax season saw nearly 2.4 million tax returns being flagged for additional review - with refunds totaling approximately:
$ 5 B

How Can I Prevent This?

Always report suspicious activity, links and emails to the UCF Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) and follow the common best practices below to protect your information.

  • Think Before You Click on Links or Open Files
  • Verify Links and Sender Addresses
  • Double-check Suspicious MFA Login Attempts
  • Protect Your Credentials with Strong Passwords and MFA
Example of a phishing email urging users to click a link to claim their tax refund.

Help – I’ve already shared my personal information!

If you think you may have fallen victim to any scams, please visit https://www.identifytheft.gov, and follow the steps below for specific information shared:

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the UCF Security Incident Response Team by sending an email to sirt@ucf.edu.