IRS Warns Taxpayers of Sophisticated Phone Scam

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning U.S. taxpayers about a phone scam that has hit victims in nearly every state in the country.

In this sophisticated scam, a caller tells victims that they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid immediately through a pre-loaded debit card or a wire transfer. Scammers use a fake caller ID number to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling. The caller may turn hostile when victims don’t cooperate and threaten arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. After threatening victims and ending the call, other scammers soon call back the victim pretending to be from the police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.

“We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves,” says IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.” He said the IRS typically initiates contact with taxpayers via mail.

If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:

• If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040.
• If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe taxes, then call 1.800.366.4484 to report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
• If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission, using their FTC Complaint Assistant at www.ftc.gov.  Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your complaint.