News

06Jun
2016

IRS SCAMS

We have been receiving many questions and concerns from clients regarding the recent rash of IRS scams. These scam artists present themselves as being from the IRS, a tax company and sometimes even a state revenue department. They are doing this via email as well as by phone. By email, they’re trying to entice people to click on links in official-looking messages containing questions related to their “tax refund”. Report these emails to [email protected]. By phone, many are using threats to intimidate and bully people into paying a “tax bill”. They even alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use fake names and fake badge numbers as well. Below are some tips to help keep you safe.

THE IRS WILL NEVER:

• Call to demand immediate payment over the phone, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
IF YOU GET A PHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE IRS AND ASKING FOR MONEY AND YOU DON’T OWE TAXES, HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:

• Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
• Contact TIGTA to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” webpage or call 1- 800-366-4484.
• Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
• If you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.

AVOID PHISHING EMAIL ATTEMPTS:

Never reply to emails, texts or pop-up messages asking for your personal, tax or financial information. One common trick is to impersonate a business such as your financial institution, tax software provider or the IRS, asking you to update your account and providing a link. For small business, these schemes may try impersonating a company leader and request payroll and human resource information for employees. Never click on links even if they seem to be from organizations your trust. Go directly to the organization’s website.

IF YOU GET A PHISHING EMAIL, REMEMBER THIS ADVICE:

• Don’t reply to the message.
• Don’t give out your personal or financial information.
• Forward the email to [email protected]. Then delete it.
• Don’t open any attachments or click on any links. They may have malicious code that will infect your computer.

More information on how to report phishing or phone scams is available on IRS.gov.

If you think you’ve been a victim of one of these scams, please follow the steps provided. You may also contact us at [email protected] with any questions.