Advisory: Internal Revenue Service
warns consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers.
Dear Nixle User,
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today
warned consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting 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.
“This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country.
We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves.
Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the
phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer,” says IRS
Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming
to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license
revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really
isn’t the IRS calling.” Werfel noted that the first IRS contact with
taxpayers on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail
Other characteristics of this scam 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 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 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.
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 1.800.829.1040. 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 Administrationat 1.800.366.4484.
·
You can file a complaint
using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and
then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating
the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
Taxpayers should be aware that there are other
unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such
as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against
phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not
initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial
information. This includes any type of electronic communication,
such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask
for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit
card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open any
attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead,
forward the e-mail tophishing@irs.gov.
IR-2013-84, Oct. 31, 2013
More information on how to report phishing scams involving the
IRS is available on the genuine IRS website, IRS.gov.
You can reblog the IRS tax scam alert via Tumblr.
For full details, view this
message on the web.
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