Senators press IRS on AI-generated scams

Noting the potential for especially deceptive tax scams that could be created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like chatbots and deepfakes, four members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee asked the IRS to use all the tools at its disposal to protect taxpayers. While previous tax scam messages could be identified by taxpayers who spotted spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or inaccurate references to the tax code, AI-generated tax scams will look like they were written by professionals and be specifically tailored to trick vulnerable taxpayers, the letter said.

The group of senators, led by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked the IRS to provide them with answers to the following questions:

• How is the IRS preparing for a potential increase in AI-generated tax scams?
• Will the agency educate taxpayers and tax professionals about AI-generated tax scams and their characteristics, and provide them with timely warnings?
• How does the IRS expect AI-generated tax scams to evolve?
• Has the IRS received any reports of AI-generated tax scams and, if it has, does it have an estimate of the dollar amounts involved?

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