There has been a rocketing increase on people who pose as irs agents and scam you in either giving them sensitive information or paying them thousands of dollars. They leave an urgent call back request by phone, asking you to contact them in order to settle your “tax bill”. They make you panic such as saying things like “this is the last warning before legal action will be taken”. When the taxpayer calls back they threaten to arrest, deport or revoke citizenship.
The newest trend these scammers use is to demand you make tax payments through itunes and other gift cards. The irs makes it clear, any payment that ask to pay through itunes or any other gift cards is an automatic scam.
Some of the cruel strategies that these scammers will ask are:
• Ask payments for a “Federal student tax”.
• Ask to “Verify your tax return” in order to steal sensitive information.
• Say you missed a tax payment
These are just the few examples of what scammers do in order to get large chunks of money out of you.
Things the irs will never do:
- The irs will never call you and say you need to pay them immediately , without sending you a bill by the mail first
- They will never threaten to call the local police or any other law enforcement agency to arrest you for not paying.
- They will never demand you to pay without you first having the opportunity to appeal or even question them on the amount you owe.
- Ask for credit card or debit card number over the phone.
If you have any questions or doubts regarding your tax bill, you can call the irs directly 800-829-1040.
What to do if you do get a call from these scammers?
- Hang up immediately do not give any information
- Contact TIGA to report the call, by calling 800-829-1040. And use “The irs impersonation scam”
By Jonathan Batyrov
Tax Professional
HYS Tax & Accounting Firm
3475892822
