Criminals impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have been targeting anyone with a phone number. Menacing phone calls are being made to civilians by scammers. Initially, scammers would make live phone calls when impersonating the IRS. However, taxpayers are now also being victimized by robocalls.
Many people have been succumbing to this scam. It is crucial to know that the IRS will never call taxpayers to demand immediate payment over the phone. Also, they will not threaten to bring in local law-enforcement groups to have taxpayers arrested for failure to pay, or for owing IRS back taxes. Lastly, the IRS will never ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
Another recent approach being used by IRS impersonators to wheel in taxpayers is to claim to have the taxpayer’s tax return. The scammers then proceed to ask for personal information, such as Social Security numbers, to process the returns.
If you happen to receive one of these very convincing phone calls, do not give any information, and hang up. Contact “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” page or call 800-366-4484 immediately.