The IRS warns that IRS scammers work throughout the year,
not just during tax season.
In an alert, the tax agency summarized the current common
tax scams that have been reported to it. The basics of how the scammers work to
con you out of your money remain the same, scare you into acting without
thinking to “solve” a made up serious problem and demanding immediate payment
with gift cards or wire transfers which cannot be traced or reversed.
The IRS does report twists to this game that try to catch
you unaware,
·
Verify Call Scam- A scammer calls you claiming
to be from the local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC). If the you question the
caller’s legitimacy, he will have you look up the phone number of the local
TAC, then he hangs up. After a few minutes, he calls again, using the local TAC’s
phone number on caller ID, resuming his demands for immediate payment. If you
do look up the number, call it and ask for the agent who called you.
·
Refund
email- Scammers might send you an email claiming to be about a refund owed to
you and asking you to verify some information at a link. These are phishing
emails designed to steal your personal information and/or install malware onto
your computer.
·
Erroneous Refund Deposit- You may receive a call
from a scammer claiming that the IRS has erroneously deposited a refund in your
bank account. He will demand that you pay his collection agency. Sometimes the
IRS does pay refunds to the wrong people. And being the IRS, it has a procedure
to follow if you wrongly receive a refund. Look up Tax
Topic Number 161- Returning an Erroneous Refund for instructions.
For more information about IRS scams, go to the following
links,
Internal Revenue Service:
Tax Topic Number 161- Returning an
Erroneous Refund:
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