With the Tuesday, April 17 tax filing deadline approaching, the Iowa Department of Revenue is issuing a warning to taxpayers and tax professionals to be on the look-out for identity theft scams. They have been receiving reports of these scam attempts, particularly one in the form of an email that is pretending to come from IRS Refunds. This scam is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to trick people into opening a link or attachment associated with the email. This then takes people to a fake page, where thieves will try to steal personal identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers. These links also often secretly download malware, which can perform many functions that allow access to control of the computer or tracking of keystrokes to determine passwords or other critical data. Be aware that the IRS does not randomly contact taxpayers or tax professionals via email, including asking people to identify their tax refund information. The IRS will initiate most contacts through regular mail delivery by the United States Post Office. There are select instances when the IRS will call or come to the home of a taxpayer, usually for an overdue bill, to secure a delinquent return, a delinquent employment tax payment or during an audit. Generally, however, several letters will be sent out prior to these calls or visits. Everyone is urged to take security precautions by making sure they have antivirus protection and firewalls, learn to recognize phishing emails, threatening calls and texts as scam attempts and by securing their personal identifiable information.