Don’t be Fooled by Phone Scams!

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It appears that scammers claiming to be from the IRS are at it again…  Callers imitating the IRS are making another round of bogus calls to taxpayers across the country this summer. The calls are aggressive and threaten with arrest, court action, deportation, and even license revocation to try to steal your money and personal information.  PHB wants you to know that the IRS will NEVER call you and demand payment. We want to help protect you and your family from being victims, so we visited the IRS website and found this information that will help you spot a scam:

Five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. (Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam.)

The IRS will never:

  • Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
  • 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.
  • Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do if you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason to think that you do:

  • Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
  • Contact TIGTA 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.

 If you know you owe, or think you may owe tax:

  • Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you.

Be aware of scams that use the IRS as a lure. Tax scams can happen any time of year, not just at tax time. For more information regarding this scam, you can read the entire article on the IRS website at: https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/phone-scams-continue-to-be-a-serious-threat-remain-on-irs-dirty-dozen-list-of-tax-scams-for-the-2016-filing-season