Tax scams have been increasing in number and complexity over the years. The IRS has seen an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents so far in the 2016 tax season. These scams have the intent of getting payment or information from taxpayers. Some of the latest methods include:
- Tax payments through iTunes gift card. These scammers want funds sent in untraceable methods. In the past this has included Greed Dot, MoneyPak, Reloadit, and other prepaid cards.
- Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and HR Professionals. Scammers will purport to be a company executive requesting personal information on employees.
- “Verifying” tax return information over the phone. The scammers may know the last 4 of your social security number, or full number, and try to get financial information to access accounts.
- Pretending to be from the tax preparation industry. This is often sent by Email that looks similar to popular tax prep software, sending you to a webpage to “verify” information. These webpages capture private information that is later used to file fraudulent tax returns.
- Claiming students need to pay a “Federal Student Tax”. These are calls to students that sound authentic because they have information about the school, or taxpayer. Some of these callers will use spoofed caller-ID information advising that the U.S. Government is calling.
- Pretending to be from Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). These scammers attempt to get personal information by sending you to a spoof webpage, sometimes claiming they found extra refunds.
- Emails sending you to websites like IRSgov (without the dot between the two) to “update” your e-file.
The best way to combat these scams is to know how the IRS handles legitimate issues. Below is a list, compiled by the IRS, of things that IRS agents and the agency will not do:
- Call to demand immediate payment over the phone, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
- Threated 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 do get a phone call that seems suspicious or violates the list above, here is what you should do:
- Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
- Contact TIGTA at 800-366-4484 to report the call.
- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting FTC.gov and clicking on “File a Consumer Complaint.” Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
- If you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.
- Do not click on links inside the E-mails if they look suspicious as doing so could download malware.