IRS Scammers are Phishing for Cash

IRS Impersonators are aggressive, convincing con artists.

Nobody really wants to have personal contact with the IRS; and nobody ever wants to be stalked and victimized by the criminal network of IRS scammers impersonating as the IRS. As the tax season approaches, these criminal elements have become more aggressive as they release a new surge of telephone, email, text and internet schemes that defy imagination.

The IRS is serious about protecting you from telephone attacks.

If you get a call from someone who says they’re from the IRS asking for any information or money, hang up; NEVER give this caller personal information. Generally, the IRS will NOT call on the phone. You will be talking to IRS scammers.

• Did you know the longer you stay on the phone (even if you don’t speak) scammers consider you a more likely victim? Chances are good you’ll receive another call. Hang up immediately.

The IRS publication Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts advises taxpayers that the IRS will never:

• Call to demand immediate payment by specific method.
• Threaten to bring in police or local law enforcement groups to arrest you for non-payment.
• Demand payment without you having the opportunity to question or appeal.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

Aggressive, threatening and humiliating phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents are a major threat. These IRS scammers operate with such skill and unrelenting intimidation that their success breaches the boundaries of victim age, education and socio-economic groups. A Connecticut college student recently gave in to persistent demands and threats by IRS scammers and handed over $7,900 in the form of gift cards.

The IRS is serious about protecting you from email, texting, phishing and malware schemes.

Last year, there was an approximate 400 percent surge in this type of attack. Don’t open any email or text message which looks like it’s from the IRS.

If you do get these phishing and malware email and texting messages, the IRS says:

• Do not open or respond to the email or click on the links.
• Forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov

Now what?

If the IRS needs to contact you for information, they will generally send a letter. Through the US Postal Service, in an envelope. Nobody wants to receive a letter from the IRS, but sometimes it happens. Keep this in mind: If you’re surprised the IRS is contacting you, then it’s probably not the IRS. Take a few minutes and read this IRS publication, Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts. The IRS doesn’t want to be perceived as one of these IRS scammers; it wouldn’t benefit them.

What’s the bottom line with these IRS scammers?

If you have any questions about any communication to or from the IRS, contact me. I can help you. Call 479-478-6831 or email me at Melanie@radcliffcpa.com