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Warning about tax season scams |
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January 31, 2017 |
By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
“As the tax filing season approaches, it is
critical that all taxpayers remember to be wary
of unsolicited telephone calls and e-mails from
individuals claiming to be IRS and Treasury
employees,” warns the Treasury Inspector General
for Tax Administration (TIGTA), J. Russell
George.
He further cautions that the callers are
aggressive and relentless.
“Once they have your attention, they will say
anything to con you out of your hard-earned
cash. We continue to actively pursue those
perpetrating this fraud, and we ask you to
remain vigilant and report any calls you receive
to our website.”
TIGTA released a flyer and poster to help alert
taxpayers about fraudulent calls from scammers
impersonating Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and
U.S. Department of Treasury employees. Links to
both and information about the scams can be
accessed on the Treasury Department’s website,
www.treasury.gov.
TIGTA cautions that, “The IRS generally first
contacts people by mail—not by phone—about
unpaid taxes and the IRS will not insist on
payment using an iTunes card, gift card, prepaid
debit card, money order, or wire transfer. The
IRS will never request personal or financial
information by e-mail, text, or any social
media. The IRS also will not ask for a credit
card number over the phone.”
TIGTA also provides recommendations on what to
do if a call from someone claiming to be with
the IRS and asking for payment is received. The
recommendations include hanging up; reporting
the scam via TIGTA’s website,
www.tigta.gov;
and filing a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission at
www.FTC.gov.
Further, TIGTA recommends that attachments in
IRS-related email scams should not be opened and
links should not be clicked, but rather
reported, and encourages awareness of other
scams, such as claims of winning lottery or
sweepstakes and solicitations for debt relief
offers that fraudulently claim to be from the
IRS.
TIGTA describes the scam as the largest tax
impersonation scam ever in the U.S., and
reported that 56 alleged scammers associated
with five call centers have been indicted, and
21 individuals were arrested in the U.S.
Reports of more than 1.8 million people
receiving an impersonation call have been made
to TIGTA, and more than 9,600 victims have
collectively paid more than $50 million as a
result of the scam. An additional approximately
$21 million in losses and more than 4,000
victims have accrued since TIGTA sent out a
similar alert last year.
I am trying to help get word out about this scam
in the hopes that more do not fall victim to it.
It is galling that Americans are spending
millions on compliance with an overly burdensome
tax code while having to be on guard against
scammers manipulating its complexities.
Unfortunately, Americans must be suspicious
anytime they get a cold call from someone
claiming to be from the IRS, given the
well-document difficulties the IRS has just
being able to answer legitimate phone calls from
taxpayers with questions.
I continue to work for comprehensive, long-term
reform of our overly-complex and
anti-competitive tax code to assist with
economic and job growth and ease compliance.
Eliminating complexity, broadening the base and
significantly lowering rates for all Americans
will make the code more clear, easier to meet
its obligations and ideally more difficult to
exploit. |
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