The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the "Dirty Dozen" Tax Scams for 2014 last month to include a nationwide telephone scam from fake IRS agents.
From the Internal Revenue Service website (IRS.gov)…
"The IRS has seen a recent increase in local
phone scams across the country, with callers pretending to be from the IRS in
hopes of stealing money or identities from victims.
These phone scams include many variations,
ranging from instances from where callers say the victims owe money or are
entitled to a huge refund. Some calls can threaten arrest and threaten a
driver’s license revocation. Sometimes these calls are paired with follow-up
calls from people saying they are from the local police department or the state
motor vehicle department.
Characteristics of these scams can include:
•
Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers.
They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
•
Scammers may be able to recite the last four
digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.
•
Scammers “spoof” or imitate the IRS toll-free
number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.
•
Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to
some victims to support their bogus calls.
•
Victims hear background noise of other calls
being conducted to mimic a call site.
After threatening victims with jail time or a
driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back
pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their
claim.
In another variation, one sophisticated phone
scam has targeted taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the
country.
Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and
it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If
the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest,
deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the
caller becomes hostile and insulting.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming
to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do: If you know you owe taxes or you
think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. The IRS employees at
that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue.
If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no
reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a
bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and
report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at
800-366-4484.
If you’ve been targeted by these scams, you
should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint
Assistant” at FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the
comments of your complaint."
View more information about this and other scams to be aware of at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Releases-the-“Dirty-Dozen”-Tax-Scams-for-2014;-Identity-Theft,-Phone-Scams-Lead-List.
