New McAfee Research Reveals Confidence Gap: 4 in 5 Americans Worry About Tax Scams, but Only 29% Feel Fully Confident Spotting Them

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)— As tax season heats up, McAfee, a global leader in personal protection, today announced findings from new research showing that while 82% of Americans say they’re worried about tax fraud or identity theft this year, many don’t feel fully prepared to spot today’s increasingly convincing scams. Four in 10 Americans say tax scam messages are more sophisticated than last year, and 84% are concerned that AI is making scams harder to detect – yet only 29% feel very confident they could recognize a tax scam when they see one.

A Season of Stress, and Real Financial Loss

Tax season already brings pressure. Add increasingly realistic scam messages, AI-generated impersonations, and official-looking texts and emails, and concern spikes.

Tax scams don’t just appear in April — they build months in advance. While email and text scams persist year-round, McAfee Labs saw fake tax-themed websites nearly double in late 2025 and continue rising into early 2026 as filing season approaches.

Nearly one in five Americans say they’ve lost money to a tax scam, with victims losing an average of $1,020 — and sometimes far more.

Confusion around recent tax law changes is adding fuel to the fire. More than one in three (38%) say legislation like the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has made them less confident they’re filing correctly, and 29% admit they don’t fully understand new tax rules. Meanwhile, two-thirds (67%) say they’re seeing the same or more tax scam messages than last year.

Tax scams are usually a small slice of overall scam activity — but when they appear, they scale fast. McAfee Labs found that tax-themed email and text scams typically make up about 1% or less of scam activity, but targeted campaigns can drive sudden spikes. In late 2025, a tax-relief email campaign pushed scam emails as high as 6%, while politically themed tax texts briefly drove scam messages to 7% in a single day.

The result is a tax season marked by anxiety, shaky confidence, and an opening for scammers to exploit urgency and confusion.

“Tax season has long been prime time for scammers because it combines high stress with people sharing sensitive personal information,” said Abhishek Karnik, Head of Threat Research at McAfee. “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. When only a small share of Americans are fully confident they can spot a deepfake, that uncertainty gives scammers an edge. 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.”

AI Is Raising the Stakes and Exposing a Confidence Gap

AI is changing the scam game by making fake messages feel all too real. Nearly three in four Americans (77%) worry that AI is making tax scams more convincing and only 29% feel very confident they could spot a deepfake IRS voice or video pretending to be from the IRS.

There’s also a sharp generational divide in who feels prepared for scam-spotting. While 42% of young adults ages 18–24 say they’d feel very confident spotting a deepfake tax scam, that drops to just 15% among adults 65–74, leaving many older Americans feeling especially exposed.

But confidence doesn’t always reflect exposure. Nearly one in four adults under 45 (23%) report experiencing tax-related identity theft, compared with just 4–5% of adults 55 and older. At the same time, roughly 80% of adults under 35 say they feel confident they could detect a fake tax message, versus 66% of adults 65–74.

How Americans Are Trying to Stay Safe

Faced with increasingly realistic scam tactics, 9 in 10 Americans (90%) say they’re taking steps to protect themselves this tax season:

• 67% never click links from unknown senders
• 60% ignore unexpected texts or calls
• 53% use strong passwords
• 53% enable two-factor authentication
• 31% use anti-malware or antivirus software

But age matters. Younger adults report the lowest use of protective behaviors, while older adults report the highest:

• 56% of 18–24-year-olds vs. 81% of adults 65+ avoid unknown links
• 45% of 18–24-year-olds vs. 77% of adults 65+ ignore unknown texts or calls
• 40% of 18–24-year-olds vs. 58% of adults 65+ use two-factor authentication
• 17% of 18–24-year-olds vs. 50% of adults 65+ use anti-malware protection

At the same time, caution is tipping into confusion: 37% say they’ve second-guessed a legitimate tax communication because they feared it was a scam.

This tax season isn’t just about filing returns; it’s about navigating doubt.

How to Stay Safer This Tax Season

Here’s how to protect yourself:

• Strengthen your defenses. Turn on two-factor authentication, use strong and unique passwords, and never share login details. AI-powered scam detection tools, like McAfee’s Scam Detector, can help flag suspicious messages before they cause harm.
• Verify through official channels. The IRS does not demand immediate payment by text, email, or social media. If you receive a suspicious message, go directly to IRS.gov or call the official number listed there.
• Pause before you click. Urgency is a scammer’s favorite tactic. Skip the link and navigate directly to the official website to confirm.

Methodology

A McAfee survey, which focused on the topic of tax scams and the impact of these scams on consumers, was conducted online in January 2026. 3,008 adults in the US, age 18+, participated in the study.

McAfee Labs analyzed U.S. tax‑related scams observed across multiple threat vectors ahead of the April 15, 2026 tax filing deadline. The research examined scam activity detected between September 1, 2025 and early February 2026, drawing on anonymized product telemetry and threat intelligence. Analysis focused on tax‑themed malicious or suspicious websites, text messages, emails, mobile apps, and PDF files, using IRS‑ and tax‑related keywords to identify relevant activity. Suspicious URLs and samples were further reviewed and categorized by risk to better understand scam trends targeting consumers during tax season.

About McAfee

McAfee Corp. is a global leader in online protection for consumers. Focused on safeguarding people in an always-online world, McAfee’s solutions adapt to user needs, empowering individuals and families with secure, intuitive tools. For more information, visit www.mcafee.com.