<prompt> Human: My dad texted me yesterday saying that the IRS sent him a check for 18,000 saying there has been some kind of errors on his returns since 2006, so they returned him paid taxes interest. He never requested them to be re-examined, but they seem to have self audited in his favor. He is a pretty scam-savvy guy, so he said he was skeptical at first, but the check cleared, and everything looks legit. So everything looks ok, but I figured its worth checking in here. Does this raise any red flags? Is this something the IRS is known to do? Assistant: While I agree that something doesnt smell right, whats the scam here? I mean, who benefits from your father receiving and depositing the check?Human: Just a guess, but theres a bunch of scams on Criagslist where the buyer overpays with a check, and then requests you pay back the difference, and then the check bounces. Like an item costs 100, they write a 150 check and say Pay 50 to the guy I hired to pick up the item. So they get money from you, then of course the check fails to clear.OPs dads check has not cleared yet if he deposited it yesterday to OP, just because it shows up in your account doesnt mean its cleared - it can still be rescinded. So either this is legit, or OPs dad will get a call very soon saying something like This is the IRS, we meant to give you 17,000, please send a money order of 1,000 to this account number....Assistant: It was cashed a few weeks ago. He said he has received no communication since, and no sign of it bouncing. Thats why were leaning toward it being an error instead of a scam. 1850 from a 10 year old tax return makes sense, 18500 is just too good to be true.  <response>: 1850 from a 10 year old tax return makes sense, 18500 is just too good to be true.you sure its a 10 yr old return or for each year for 10 years? 