Scammers are getting better at their latest tricks as tax season gets closer and closer. This article should help you look out for these mean people.
During tax season, scams are common.
Scam artists have started pretending to be the IRS in one way or another to get people to give them their social security numbers and other information. This is a very sneaky move. From a logical point of view, this makes sense. Everyone is scared of the IRS, and no one wants to hear from the Agency. Most of us would do anything to solve any problem an IRS agent brought up, like sending them copies of credit card statements and giving them important financial information over the phone. In other words, this is the perfect situation for someone to pull a scam.
Scammers want to get personal information that they can use to open credit card accounts and other things. This is a form of identity theft that is sometimes called "phishing."
Identity theft and phishing can happen through almost any way of communicating. Here are a few recent con jobs that worked:
One group of con artists started sending spam emails to taxpayers telling them they could get tax refunds. The scam worked because the emails came from email accounts that looked like they were run by the IRS. The taxpayers were then told to click through to a website where they could fill out a form and get their refund. The email address and website were fake, of course. No one got their money back, but the scammers got a lot of information like social security numbers, credit card numbers, and so on. This scam took place on 12 different websites in 11 different countries.
- This is an old favourite. Scammers send fake IRS letters and Forms W-8BEN to non-residents, asking them for personal information like bank account numbers, PINs, passport numbers, and so on. The banks, not the IRS, use Form W-8BEN to get information from non-residents who want to open bank accounts. Unfortunately, many people who didn't live in the country fell for this scam, and their identities were stolen.
When communicating with the IRS, there are a few rules you can follow. First of all, the IRS never, ever sends taxpayers emails. NEVER! If you get an email, you can be sure that it is a scam. Either get rid of it or send it to the IRS so they can do something.
If you get mail from the IRS, you should call the agency to make sure you really got a letter. Get the person's name when they call, and then call them back at the IRS. Both ways will stop people who try to steal from you. Be wary of messages you get from people or places you didn't expect.
Lastly, the IRS will never ask a taxpayer for a password or PIN. If the agency wants to take your money from your bank account, they can. They don't have to take $300 out of your account every day until your tax debt is paid!
People who pull scams are very creative. If you have questions about a message from the IRS, you can call the agency.
