By Michael Butler
Miami Herald
(TNS)
You’re waiting for your tax refund and just got a piece of mail from the IRS. The letter mentions there is a problem with depositing your money into your bank and asks you for your account number.
Wait a minute.
Is that real?
Or is it a scam?
The IRS suggests that if you are unsure about the validity of an official-looking letter such as this, contact the agency for more information.
Miami-area accountant Marcell Hetenyi did just that after hearing from several of his clients over the past week who got the letter, purportedly from the Internal Revenue Service.
Even with the official letterhead and seal, he said it just didn’t look “right.”
And he was suspicious.
So, Hetenyi advised the clients to ignore the IRS letter until he looked into the situation.
Initially, Hetenyi believed that the letter was an elaborate form of fraud.
“If it’s a scam, it’s a very high-end scam,” he said.
A spokesperson for the IRS suggested that consumers do a search at www.irs.gov if they think they’re being scammed.
“Any notice or letter from the IRS will be available on your IRS account,” said spokesperson Alejandra Castro.
The IRS also offers a guide for consumers to learn more about tax scams and fraud.
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In his 22 years of doing taxes, Hetenyi said he never saw a letter like the one sent to some of his clients by snail mail.
“For the IRS to send out a notice without any indication and give us your bank account information is nonsense,” said Hetenyi, 43. “That is not right.”
Hetenyi received a notice on behalf of a client and said it came in an envelope with the IRS logo. He said the letter addressed the accountant’s legal status as a tax preparer and recognized his power of attorney, which he said isn’t usually done by scammers.
But he started investigating to be safe from a possible scam. He contacted the IRS. The next day, he got an early morning call from the IRS with the answer.
Scam? Real?
The notice was real and official communication, the IRS told the surprised accountant.
Hetenyi said the “poorly written” letter went to 12 of his firm’s 700 clients—and estimates that each of them will now get a $50 to $120 tax refund.
Photo credit: Mohamed Nohassi/Unsplash
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©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: CP53E notice, Income Taxes, IRS, IRS notices, tax refund, tax refunds, tax scam, tax scams, Taxes
