The IRS issued an alert late today, warning of a "new tax scam... that lures taxpayers into filing tax information on a site masquerading as a member of the Free File Alliance".

Stay well away: the only place for US taxpayers to access the Free File program is through the official IRS.gov website.

According to the IRS, the latest twist on tax scams involves tax preparation websites that masquerade as members of the Free File Alliance, a partnership of 19 tax software firms and the IRS.

The IRS is investigating allegations that the unnammed websites "accepted tax information from taxpayers, changed the taxpayers’ bank account numbers to their own and then filed the return through a legitimate Free File partner".

Last day for filing and paying is April 17. ®

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