{"id":15533,"date":"2022-02-08T16:17:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T21:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/?p=15533"},"modified":"2023-12-11T15:46:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T20:46:37","slug":"irs-warns-to-void-tax-season-phone-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/irs-warns-to-void-tax-season-phone-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS warns to void Tax Season Phone Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"15533\" class=\"elementor elementor-15533\" data-elementor-settings=\"{&quot;ha_cmc_init_switcher&quot;:&quot;no&quot;}\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-95e05a8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"95e05a8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b3ae321\" data-id=\"b3ae321\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-35ece9e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"35ece9e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2>IRS warns to void Tax Season Phone Scams<\/h2><p>Filing season has just begun, and scammers are already trying to make life miserable for everyone else. While this isn\u2019t a shocking turn for anyone who has been paying attention to the evolution of identity theft tax refund fraud, it\u2019s a problem that everyone needs to be aware of nonetheless.<\/p><p>This week, the Internal Revenue Service is warning that identity thieves are posing as IRS agents in a wide range of scam phone calls. According to the agency, criminals are \u201cposing as IRS agents in hopes of stealing taxpayer money or personal information.\u201d<\/p><h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">How will I know if a phone call from \u201cthe IRS\u201d is actually a scam?<\/span><\/h2><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Identity thieves generally try to create a sense of urgency when they contact you. Their strategy is to put you in a state of fear or anxiety through threats or by offering deals that sound too good to be true. If these criminals set the hook, you might not realize it\u2019s a scam until it\u2019s too late. That\u2019s why you and your clients must become familiar with the common types of bait in the phishing tackle box.<\/span><\/p><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The IRS lists four things their agents will never do when contacting taxpayers:<br \/><\/span><\/p><ul><li><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card, or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes. Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.<\/span><\/em><\/li><li><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Demand that taxes be paid without giving taxpayers the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.<\/span><\/em><\/li><li><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Call unexpectedly about a tax refund.<br \/><\/span><\/em><\/li><\/ul><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While specifically cited concerning phishing calls, these tactics are also common in phishing emails and social media scams.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-03a8fe0\" data-id=\"03a8fe0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ac757c3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ac757c3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What should I do if I receive a tax-related scam phone call?<\/span><\/h2><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you or a client receives one of these phone calls, the IRS says step one is to write down the number and hang up. Remember, some fraudsters use what you say during one of these calls to start building a profile that they refine for future scams\u2014in other words,\u00a0<strong><u>do not try to emulate\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><em><strong><u>that<\/u><\/strong><\/em><strong><u>\u00a0TED Talk<\/u><\/strong>. (Though watching it is admittedly a fun way to spend ten minutes!)<\/span><\/p><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Next, the agency says to report the phone call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and the IRS. That involves contacting TIGTA through their \u201cReport a Crime or IRS Employee Misconduct\u201d page or calling 800.366.4484, then sending an email containing the suspicious phone number\u2014subject: \u201cIRS Phone Scam\u201d\u2014to\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Phishing@IRS.gov\">Phishing@IRS.gov<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The IRS closes their Tax Tip with links to two important tax-related scam resources:<\/span><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/tax-scams-consumer-alerts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/privacy-disclosure\/report-phishing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Report Phishing and Online Scams<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Also, be sure to check out the \u201cSecurity Summit\u201d page on IRS.gov.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filing season has just begun, and scammers are already trying to make life miserable for everyone else. While this isn\u2019t a shocking turn for anyone who<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acronline.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}