With the 2016 income tax filing season in full swing, the Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert to be aware of phone scams used by criminals trying to obtain personal information and steal your identity. Taxpayers should be skeptical and not be fooled by callers pretending to be the IRS.
Here are several of the more common phone scams used to get money or information from potential victims:
- Calling and claiming to be an IRS agent and demanding immediate payment without first having sent you a bill or other notice
- Demanding payment without giving you the opportunity to appeal the amount in question
- Requiring that you pay your taxes a certain way – for example using a prepaid debit card
- Asking for credit or debit card account numbers over the phone
- Threatening to involve law enforcement to have you arrested for not paying the proper taxes
- Suggesting a meeting to collect past due taxes at a non-government office or other suspicious location
It is important to know that the IRS will never make first contact by telephone. Their standard procedure is to first send a letter proposing changes to your already filed tax return or notifying you of an examination of a previously filed tax return. The letter will provide an address and phone number for you to call them, not the other way around.
Here is a list of things you can do to protect yourself from these criminals if you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you do:
- Do not give out any personal information – hang up immediately!
- Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and report the call. Dial 800-366-4484.
- Visit this website, FTC.gov, and use the FTC Complaint Assistant. Make sure you add IRS Telephone Scam to the note section.
It’s important you stay alert not just during tax filing season, but throughout the year. Tax scams can happen at any moment.
For more safeguards to keep your personal information secure contact your LSL Advisor.
