During tax season, the scammers flood the web and phone lines trying to find an unsuspecting victim. This IRS phone call scam is not new, but worth taking note of.
Unfortunately, most of the victims are elderly people or immigrants. Awareness is the best defense.
Below is a short video of an actual voice mail that was left on our business phone service.
Learn to spot the IRS phone scam call.
Here are a few red flags to help you spot the phone scammers
1 – The IRS, Internal Revenue Service will never call you demanding payment. They communicate with tax payers almost exclusively via the US Postal Service. So if someone calls stating they are from the IRS and tell you there is an warrant out for your arrest because of non-payment, don’t believe it. Just say have a nice day and hang up.
Here is a link to the IRS website explaining how to spot this scam and how to avoid it.
2 – If the person on the other end of the phone asks you to go buy gift cards equal to the amount they say you owe, it’s a scam. They then expect you to give them the gift card numbers over the phone. The one should be very obvious.
3 – We need to collect the money you owe right now! Really? Never be in a rush to give anyone financial info over the phone for any reason.
4 – The police are on their way to collect the money. Don’t be threatened. The police are not coming to get you or demand payment.
Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission website detailing info on other things to look out for.