As ANCHOR Rebates Roll Out, Costly Tax Scam Targets NJ Residents

Residents across the state have been receiving text messages from the “New Jersey Department of Taxation” that they are at risk of losing tax refunds.

Here’s the real issue: The New Jersey Department of Taxation does not exist.

This is a text scam, or a “smishing” scam, that’s putting targets at risk of revealing their banking information to scammers.

The message says that the recipient's “refund request has been processed and approved.” It then asks the target to insert “accurate payment information” by clicking on a shady link to finalize the request.

The scam then indicates that if the payment information is not provided by a phony deadline, then the recipient will permanently forfeit their tax refund.

The scammers added that following through with their instructions will result in funds being deposited into their account or a check in the mail. This will not happen.

With more than one million New Jerseyans awaiting their ANCHOR tax relief (which is a rebate, not the refund mentioned in the text), the scammers, intentionally or not, picked an apt time to launch the deceiving con.

The New Jersey Division of Taxation, which is very real, has said that it will never text taxpayers requesting any personal information regarding their individual income tax, business tax, or property tax relief benefits.

“Do not be fooled by phone scammers pretending to be tax collectors demanding payment on behalf of the State of New Jersey or Division of Taxation,” the NJ Division of Taxation’s site reads. “We rely primarily on the U.S. mail to make the first contact with individuals about their unpaid taxes.”

See tips on how to avoid smishing scams below, provided by the NJ Division of Taxation:

• Do not click on a link in a suspicious text message;
• Never share personal information;
• Be watchful of any communication that appears suspicious from a business, school, IRS, Division of Taxation, or any other government entity;
• Verify a suspicious text message by using contact information from the agency's official website, not the number in the text.

Anyone who believes they’ve been targeted by this scam can report it to the Federal Trade Commission online here.