IRS Warns Crypto Holders: Scammers Are Mailing Fake Letters to Steal Assets or Data

Odaily Planet Daily reported, citing Bloomberg, that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning crypto asset holders that scammers are contacting some taxpayers by mailing fake letters in an attempt to steal their digital assets or personal data.

The IRS stated that these letters may require taxpayers to register on a so-called "Digital Asset Compliance Portal," but this portal does not exist. The IRS also reminded users not to scan suspicious QR codes or answer calls or comply with requests for payment.

Although phishing and digital scams are not new in the crypto industry, sending fake IRS notifications through physical mail appears to be a novel scam tactic. Since the IRS has previously sent letters related to digital assets to taxpayers, and the number of crypto tax filing notifications surged last year, causing confusion among many taxpayers, scammers may be exploiting this familiarity to disguise their schemes.

As the U.S. tax system requires taxpayers to disclose crypto asset activities on their tax returns, communication between the IRS and digital asset holders has become more common. This also makes fake tax notifications more deceptive. For crypto users, encountering "IRS letters" involving portal registration, QR code scanning, wallet connections, or payment requests should be met with extreme caution, and verification should be conducted through official channels.