How to protect yourself from tax season scams

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report

Episode Title: How to protect yourself from tax season scams
Date: March 23, 2026
Host: Sabri Ben Asore (in for David Brancaccio)
Featured Guest: Abhishek Carnik, Head of Threat Intelligence Research at McAfee

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Marketplace Morning Report provides a concise look at recent business news, focusing on the unusual behavior of traditional "safe haven" assets during economic uncertainty, a legal update involving Elon Musk and Twitter, and — most prominently — timely, practical advice for listeners on protecting themselves from tax season scams. The discussion with McAfee's Abhishek Carnik explores how scammers are using new technology, such as AI, to enhance their tactics and what listeners can do to safeguard their personal and financial information.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Safe Havens” Are Acting Odd (01:01)

• Safe Haven Investments in Flux:
  • Traditional safe haven assets like gold and bonds are not performing as expected during current international tensions.
  • Gold: Expected to rise during uncertainty, but instead is down 15% this month.
  • 10-Year Bond Yields: Prices are at their lowest in months; yields are rising.
• Expert Insight (Julia Coronado, 01:45-03:02):
  • Increased uncertainty is causing investors to hoard cash rather than seek out traditional safe havens.
  • Inflation fears related to international conflict (rather than fears of recession) are contributing to rising bond yields.
  • Quote:
    “With so much uncertainty, there’s more of a hoarding of cash rather than investing strategically in different assets.” – Julia Coronado (01:55)
  • Central banks are more focused on inflation risks, which also pushes yields higher.

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2. Elon Musk Found to Have Misled Twitter Shareholders (03:03)

• A San Francisco jury concluded Musk defrauded Twitter shareholders in connection with his takeover-related tweets in 2022.
• Musk’s public statements about the deal being “on hold” led to share price drops, harming investors who sold prematurely.
• Jury Verdict: Musk made misleading statements but did not deliberately scheme to defraud.
• Potential Damages: Over $2 billion.
• Statement from Musk's Attorneys:
  • “Friday’s verdict [is] a bump in the road. We look forward to vindication on appeal.” (03:59, paraphrased)
• Reporting by Nancy Marshall Genzer (03:17-04:22).

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3. How to Protect Yourself from Tax Season Scams (05:00)

Prevalence & Evolution of Tax Scams

• Survey Insight: Nearly 1 in 4 Americans have been victims of tax-related scams. [Source: McAfee Survey]
• Scams are adapting, with AI-powered impersonation techniques making fraudulent messages more convincing and harder to detect.
• Average Loss: Approximately $1,020 per victim.

Most Common Current Scams (05:18)

• Urgent Messages:
  • Emails/texts urging you to file taxes quickly.
  • Enticing messages about unexpected tax refunds, leading to phishing links.
• AI Impersonation:
  • AI used to generate more convincing scam messages and even phone calls.

Warning Signs & Red Flags (06:11)

• IRS Will NOT:
  • Call, text, or email you directly — standard contact is by physical mail.
• Red Flags:
  • Demands for payment via wire transfer, gift card, cashier's check, or cryptocurrency.
  • High-pressure, urgent communications.
• Quote:
  “If somebody tries to contact you, creating that sense of urgency, take that as a red flag.” – Abhishek Carnik (06:17)
• Advice:
  • Use dedicated security tools to help detect fake communications (“AI against AI”).
  • Trust your instincts; if something feels off, proceed cautiously.

What To Do If You're a Victim (07:03)

• Reporting:
  • Report scams to the IRS and FTC.
  • Use government platforms like identitytheft.gov.
• Protective Measures:
  • Monitor your credit history for unusual activity.
  • Be cautious about oversharing sensitive personal information online.
• Quote:
  “Building awareness is one thing, but also being a little more cautious, monitoring your credit history ... not giving away too much information.” – Abhishek Carnik (07:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Julia Coronado (On safe havens losing their haven status):
  “With so much uncertainty, there’s more of a hoarding of cash rather than investing strategically in different assets.” (01:55)
• Abhishek Carnik (On scam urgency):
  “If somebody tries to contact you, creating that sense of urgency, take that as a red flag.” (06:17)
• Abhishek Carnik (On the evolving threat):
  “In this day and age ... it’s very difficult to decipher real from fake. I really think that you need to use some sort of tools to help you.” (06:42)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:01: Introduction—Unusual “safe haven” behavior
• 01:45: Julia Coronado explains asset market moves
• 03:03: Update on Elon Musk, Twitter, and the shareholder lawsuit
• 05:00: Tax scam warning: Prevalence, types, and financial losses (Abhishek Carnik, McAfee)
• 05:23: Most common tax scam tactics
• 06:11: Recognizing scam red flags; IRS official communication channels
• 07:03: What to do if you’re scammed; reporting resources and preventative measures

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Takeaways

• Stay Alert This Tax Season: Scammers are using more convincing AI-powered tactics, making vigilance more important than ever.
• Know How the IRS Communicates: Direct calls, texts, and emails are red flags; expect official mail for real notices.
• Report and Monitor: Use government platforms to report scams and keep tabs on your credit history.
• Trust Your Gut, Use Your Tools: Combine instinct with digital security products to detect and avoid scams.

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This episode of Marketplace Morning Report equips listeners with actionable, current advice not just on the business headlines of the day, but on how to personally stay safe during tax season as scam tactics evolve.

Transcript

[Morgan Stanley Announcer]

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[Sabri Ben Asore]

the safe havens Haven't Been safe havening so much From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Ben Asore in for David Brancaccio. President Trump posted this morning that the US Is engaged in talks with Iran to end hostilities. Markets responded instantly. Oil prices came down. Some stock futures went from sharply negative to sharply positive. But safe haven investments, the places where investors usually put their money when they get anxious, are still, on the whole, not acting very safe haveny. You might expect gold to be up over the past month, but it is down 15%. 10 year bond prices are still the lowest in months. Julia Coronado is founder of Macro Policy Perspectives and a professor at UT Austin and joins us.

[Julia Coronado]

Hi Julia, Good morning.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

Gold is supposed to be a safe haven, you know, something people invest in when they are concerned. And yet the price of gold's been falling. Why would that be the case?

[Julia Coronado]

Well, the same is true with bond yields. Oftentimes bonds are viewed as a safe haven and we see bonds selling off and yields rising rather than falling. And I think there is a sense that with so much uncertainty, there's more of a hoarding of cash rather than investing strategically in different assets. And so what you see is pretty much every asset price is falling right now with the uncertainty around the war,

[Sabri Ben Asore]

10 year bond yields have been going up. Is that a reflection of kind of what you're saying, or is it also that people are worried about inflation?

[Julia Coronado]

Well, I would say it's probably a combination of both. There has been a lot more concern in the markets about the inflationary impact of the war than potentially the recessionary impact of the war if recession was the dominant concern, you might expect to see yields falling. But even central banks have been talking a lot more about the inflation concern, and that has sent yields higher.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

Julia Coronado, founder and president of Macro Policy Perspectives, thank you so much.

[Julia Coronado]

My pleasure.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

A San Francisco jury decided Friday that Elon Musk defrauded Twitter shareholders when he disparaged the company during takeover negotiations four years ago. But this legal fight is not over. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genser has that Elon

[Nancy Marshall Genser]

Musk spent months trying to get out of an agreement to buy Twitter in 2022. At one point, he tweeted, quote, twitter deal temporarily on hold. Musk said that 20% of Twitter accounts were fake, more, he said than Twitter acknowledged. In negotiations, Twitter stock fell. The investors in the lawsuit sold their Twitter stock after Musk's tweets, eventually missing out. When Musk did buy Twitter at a higher price, the jury in their case found that Musk did make misleading and false that hurt the shareholders. But jurors also said Musk did not deliberately scheme to defraud them. The investors lawyers say Musk will have to pay more than $2 billion in damages. But in a statement to Marketplace, Musk's attorneys called Friday's verdict a bump in the road, adding that, quote, we look forward to vindication on appeal. I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.

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[Sabri Ben Asore]

is tax season and therefore it is also tax scam season. A new survey from McAfee finds nearly one in four Americans has been the victim of a tax related scam. So how do you protect yourself? Abhishek Carnik is head of threat intelligence research at McAfee and is here with some advice. Good morning.

[Abhishek Carnik]

Good morning.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

So what is the biggest tax scam you're seeing this year?

[Abhishek Carnik]

The typical ones that you'll start seeing now are, you know, urgent messages asking you to file your taxes. At some point there'll be tax refunds on the way, you know, which will be enticing for people to click on links. So there's. They turn out to be phishing. In some cases, they can end up being more elaborate scams that end up causing you to lose money. So one of the things that's changing the game is AI impersonation scams. And some of these other scams are now enabled in a much bigger way with AI. So the average loss that consumers are expecting to see is about $1,020 per head.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

So if you can't tell from the grammar, if you can't tell from the phone number that's being used, how are we supposed to know when we're getting scammed?

[Abhishek Carnik]

Firstly, the IRS would never call you directly, right? Or the IRS would never send you a text message or an email. They typically would contact you with snail mail. So if somebody tries to contact you, creating that sense of urgency, take that as a red flag. If somebody is asking you to make a payment over a wire transfer, gift card, cashier's check, cryptocurrency, in some cases, that's a huge red flag, I would say. And in this day and age, to be honest, it's very difficult to decipher real from fake. I really think that you need to use some sort of tools to help you. And we are using AI against AI, so to say, in today's world, where we're training models to be able to decipher real from fake or natural language from synthesized data. And so you have to use the tools, but you also have to trust your gut.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

In today's world, if someone realizes that they have been scammed, what can they do?

[Abhishek Carnik]

The IRS has a place where you can report it. The FTC has a website where you can report, like imposters. Go to identity theft.gov and some of these government websites which allow you to report against these scams. So generally, building awareness is one thing, but also being a little more cautious, monitoring your credit history, looking for any red flags within, you know, your personal information, not over posting information, not giving away too much information. Very sensitive personal information sets you up for potential scams in the future.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

Abhishek Carnik is McAfee's head of threat Intelligence Research. Thank you so much.

[Abhishek Carnik]

You're very welcome. Thank you.

[Sabri Ben Asore]

In New York, I'm Sabri Benishour with the Marketplace morning Report from 8pm American Public Media.

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