SPRING IS IN THE AIR AND SO ARE TAX SCAMS

Although Mother Nature may disagree according to the calendar spring is here. And just as the arrival of spring signals that opening day for the Yankees, Mets and Ducks is right around the corner, so is the April 15th tax filing deadline.

And with it the inevitable tax scams.

According to the IRS they have seen a recent increase in phone scams across the country, with callers pretending to be from the IRS in hopes of stealing money and/or identities from victims.

Make no mistake these are sophisticated phone scams.

According to the IRS’ website characteristics of these scams can include:

Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.
Scammers “spoof” or imitate the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.
Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.

Furthermore, after threatening victims with jail time or a driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and again the caller ID supports their claim.

If you think you’ve been targeted by a then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484 and the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov (add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your complaint).

If you legitimately owe or are concerned that you may owe federal taxes contact the Law Office of Jack Stuart Beige & Associates, P.C. to discuss your rights and options.