Tax scammers are siphoning money from millions of Americans, with victims losing an average of $1,020 during the filing season, according to new research from McAfee.
The cybersecurity firm says nearly 20% of Americans have lost money to a tax-related scam as criminals exploit confusion around tax rules and heightened anxiety during filing season.
Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at McAfee, says scams are now harder to detect with the rise of AI.
“Tax season has long been prime time for scammers because it combines high stress with people sharing sensitive personal information.
What’s changed is how real these scams now feel, and how uncertain many people feel about spotting them. AI allows criminals to more easily clone voices, mimic IRS communications, and create emails and texts that look completely legitimate.”
Data from the firm’s research shows that about 77% of Americans worry that AI is making tax fraud more convincing, while only 29% say they feel very confident they could identify a deepfake voice or video pretending to be from the IRS.
Generational differences also shape how people perceive the threat. About 42% of adults ages 18–24 say they feel very confident spotting a deepfake tax scam, compared with just 15% of adults between 65 and 74.
McAfee also finds that confusion over tax policy is amplifying the threat. More than one-third of Americans say recent legislation, such as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” has made them less confident about filing correctly, while 29% say they do not fully understand new tax rules.
Karnik says the safest response to suspicious messages is to slow down and verify information directly with official sources.
“The safest move is to pause, verify, go directly to the official source, and use protection built for today’s threats, because one quick click can turn into a costly mistake.”
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