If you are a victim of tax fraud, never hesitate to report it to the IRS. Since October of last year, the IRS has been warning of a telephone scam targeting taxpayers.
Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license.
The caller tries to concrete their efforts by using a fake IRS badge number and name, and further obfuscates the caller by spoofing the IRS toll-free number on the caller ID, as well as knowing part of the victim’s Social Security number. There has also been instances of emails sent in conjunction with the call, and subsequent calls from supposed law enforcement or other agencies in an attempt to make the call seem legitimate.
If this happens to you, the IRS has a system in place for you to report it. Hang up, and call them directly to check the status of your taxes by calling 1-800-829-1040.
On the other hand, if you are very sure that you do not owe any taxes, you can report the fraud to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484. Or, you can file a complaint at the Federal Trade Commission ftccomplaintassistant.gov.
Further, never will the IRS contact you via email, text message, or through social media of any kind. The IRS also does not ask for information associated with your accounts, like PINs and passwords or any other confidential access information for your financial accounts. You should also never open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. If you receive any sort of request from a source such as this asking for tax information, report it without delay to irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing.
For more tax solutions, or to inquire about our services, please contact us any time.
