August 1, 2014
Beware of fake IRS phone scams
We've gotten calls from a few clients telling us they've recently received phone calls and/or voice mails from a person claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service stating they owe the IRS money. The individual on the phone has made it sound threatening to our client by saying things like they're having the local police arrive at their house shortly if payments aren't made over the phone immediately. We wanted to make you aware that these phone calls are scams.
When the IRS contacts people about unpaid taxes, they do it by postal mail, not by phone.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the IRS have issued warnings on their websites about these phone scams:
FTC - http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/fake-irs-collectors-are-calling
IRS - http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterates-Warning-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam
If you get these calls, we recommend doing the following:
1. Don't give out any sensitive personal information to anyone over the phone.
2. If you have any questions about a call you've received, please contact us first before providing anyone any sensitive personal information.
3. If you know you don't owe taxes or have no reason to think you've owed taxes, or if the caller makes bogus threats on the phone, call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
4. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint. Include "IRS Telephone Scam" in your complaint.
Please let us know if you have any questions about this. We hope you're enjoying the Summer, and thank you again for having us be your CPA!
