Thinking Out Loud

During the tax season, it is important to remain vigilant with your personal information and keep on the lookout for scams. The IRS website is a valuable resource for the latest in scams and how to protect yourself and your loved ones. Below is an excerpt from one of the informational newsletters that they send out periodically via email:

“Protect Yourself

Scammers make unsolicited calls claiming to be IRS officials. They demand that the victim pay a bogus tax bill. They con the victim into sending cash, usually through a prepaid debit card or wire transfer. They may also leave “urgent” callback requests through phone “robo-calls,” or via a phishing email.

Many phone scams use threats to intimidate and bully a victim into paying. They may even threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the license of their victim if they don’t get the money.

Scammers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. They may use the victim’s name, address and other personal information to make the call sound official.

Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam.

The IRS will never:

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  Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.

  
  


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  Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.

  
  


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  Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.

  
  


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  Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

  
  


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  Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

  
  


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  If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:

  
  

If you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason to think that you do:

Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
Contact TIGTA to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
If you know you owe, or think you may owe tax:

Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you.
Stay alert to scams that use the IRS as a lure. Tax scams can happen any time of year, not just at tax time. For more, visit “Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts” on IRS.gov.

Each and every taxpayer has a set of fundamental rights they should be aware of when dealing with the IRS. These are your Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Explore your rights and our obligations to protect them on IRS.gov”.

For more information and to read further on this topic, please visit the IRS website:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts