March 5, 2019

CFPB: This Tax Season, Protect Yourself from IRS Imposter Scams

An IRS imposter scam is when someone contacts you pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They falsely say that you owe taxes and must pay them immediately or face serious penalties.

Maybe you receive a call from someone claiming to be an auditor and orders you to pay money immediately for a tax debt… or else. The caller might shout insults and demand that you pay over the phone by credit card. Or maybe you receive a voicemail message stating that you have 24 hours to return the call and pay your supposed debt with gift cards… or else. The “or else” varies, but the person on the other end of the line could say that the punishment for not paying is arrest, taking away your driver’s license, jail, or deportation.

Scammers are getting sophisticated

Not only are the calls, voicemails, emails, or text messages from IRS imposters scary, but they seem real. The caller ID on your phone might say “Internal Revenue Service” or “Federal Government.” It might even have the real number for the IRS. Or the scammer might give you a name and badge number with a telephone number to gain your trust. These scammers use technology and their smarts to focus on making their scams seem as real as possible. Don’t fall for it.

How do you know if the call is real?

There are many different types of IRS imposter scams, so we made them the latest placemat topic in our series of fraud prevention placemats that meal service providers, libraries, financial institutions, or other groups can share with older adults.

We asked the IRS to tell us what they WON’T do, so you know whether it’s a scam or the IRS.

The IRS will NEVER:

How can you protect yourself and others from IRS imposter scams?

By Erin Scheithe

This post was originally published here.