Tax day has come and gone but that doesn't mean you couldn't still get scammed. The IRS is warning taxpayers that scammers are targeting people. These Identity thieves use creative (and often aggressive) ways to get your information. Experts from Brown and Crouppenexplain what you can do to keep yourself safe!
Scammers will call and claim to be a representative from the IRS. The taxpayer is told that they are owed a large refund, or that they owe a lot of money and are in trouble.
The scammers go to great lengths to appear legitimate. They:
* Use fake, generic-sounding names and IRS badge numbers.
* Might be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security number.
* Spoof the IRS toll-free number on your caller ID to make it look like a call from the IRS.
* Send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
* Threaten victims with jail time, driver’s license revocation or deportation. Then they hang up and have another scammer call back pretending to be from law enforcement.
Did you get a call about a tax debt that was news to you? Here are some things to know
* The IRS will never call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed, without first having mailed you a bill.
* The IRS will never demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
* The IRS will never bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying taxes.
* The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail.
* The IRS never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.
What to do if you receive a call:
If you receive a call from somebody claiming to be from the IRS, and they are demanding money on a tax debt you know nothing about, just hang up. Don’t give them any information. * Contact the Treasure Department to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 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.