IRS Scams: How to Identify and Deal With Fake Agents

Tip of the Day. The IRS Doesn’t Make Phone Calls. Every time tax season rolls around, so does tax-scam season . In 2016, a common scam was for online thieves, pretending to be agents of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to send emails to U.S. tax-paying citizens and demanding payments. In 2017, scammers once again turn to direct telephone calls to trick people into believing they owe money to the IRS. Many of these bogus calls target seniors, who may be: In 2016, the U.S. government reported that over the previous three years, about 6,500 victims have handed over $36.5 million to scammers posing as Internal Revenue Service agents. And even though arrests of crime-ring leaders have been taken place during that time, new gangs of criminals emerge and the problem continues. Here’s a closer look at the telephone scam. Take care to learn what this scheme is about, then warn your friends and family (especially older ones) to be on their guard. Because tax time is scamming time. With the direct call scam, imposters are acting more aggressively and making their attacks and threats more personal. They call targeted groups—seniors and some immigrants—and pretend to be IRS agents. They also are demanding immediate payment on current and/or back taxes. In many cases, they call the home phone numbers (landlines) of their victims, which many families (especially older households) still rely on. The scam is sophisticated, scary and very effective. Here’s what U.S. government agencies have heard from victims about the scammer’s tactics: If the victim is fooled into continuing the conversation (believing he or she is really talking to the IRS), they’re told they must pay a past debt immediately . The fake agents have reportedly been aggressive and rude, hostile and insulting. If the targeted listener isn’t quick to cooperate, the con artist may do the following: The IRS will never do any of the following. (But crooks pretending to the IRS will!): Based on the information above here’s what you should do should if you ever get a call from “the IRS”: As if impersonating an IRS agent isn’t bad enough, here’s an even dirtier trick. Scam artists calling to say that the IRS has a refund for you! (If the victim isn’t home and the con artist gets the answering machine, an urgent message is left, saying “call right away to get your refund.” It’s more than a phone prank. If victims get lured in, they wind up providing their bank account information and Social Security numbers to get their supposed refund deposited into their account. The tactics may change and the scam artists may change (although a fake identity scam remains the same at its core), but the threat at tax time remains the same—thieves will target us during the heart of tax season because they know we’re thinking, and usually worrying, about taxes. “These schemes continue to adapt and evolve in an attempt to catch people off guard just as they are preparing their tax returns,” said an IRS commissioner. “Don’t be fooled,” he stresses. “The IRS won’t be calling you out of the blue asking you to verify your personal tax information or aggressively threatening you to make an immediate payment.” Only the fake IRS will do that.