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The IRS advises to avoid summertime Tax Scams

by | Jul 18, 2014 | Tax Tips

BEWARE: Tax Thieves don’t stop victimizing unsuspecting taxpayers with their scams after April 15.

Some scams that happen year-round are Identity Thief, Phone, and Phishing Scams.

  1. Identity Theft – The thief of personal and financial information for the purpose of committing fraud and other crimes, such as your social security number or bank information. Identity theft may file a phony tax return to claim a fraudulent tax refund using your personal information. The IRS has a special identity protection page on irs.gov. This page has many resources to aid you in becoming a victim. This page also contains information as to the steps to take if you are a victim and how and when to contact the IRS for assistance.
  2. Phone scams -Thieves pose as the IRS and call potential victims with one goal in mind to steal your money. Callers will call informing you of delinquent tax liability in an effort to trick you into paying the bogus debt with a wire transfer or pre-loaded debit card. The callers are often abusive and threatening.
  3. Phishing Scams – Scammers typically use E-mails that appear or claim to be from the IRS. They often lure their targets with a false promise of a refund or threat of an audit. They also set up a phony website that looks like a real IRS.gov site. The site looks official. their goal is to get the target to reveal personal and financial information. The IRS does not contact using E-mail about a tax account nor does the Agency use social media, texting, or fax to initiate contact or ask for financial information. If you get contacted like this with an E-mail forward it to the IRS at [email protected].

How The IRS contacts you:

If a person owes taxes the IRS procedure is to first contact you by regular mail not the phone. The IRS does not ask for payment with a wire transfer or pre-loaded debit card. If in doubt as to what you owe call the IRS at (800) 829-1041 and the IRS will work with you if you have a balance due. If you don’t owe taxes upon receiving one of these calls, call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484.

Don’t let tax scams scam you, be alert, and visit the genuine IRS website at IRS.gov for more information.

Please contact Sal Schibell at [email protected] or (732) 531-8000, ext 225 for any tax issues. We are happy to perform a free evaluation of your last year’s tax returns, personal or business.