Every year, unscrupulous fraudsters attempt to steal from hard-working Americans by calling and pretending to be IRS Agents collecting on taxes. Don’t fall for these, sometimes very convincing, phone scams!
The scammers often use “robo-calls” to target taxpayers. These automated calls will leave scripted messages which sound very urgent and claim that taxpayers need to call back immediately because of outstanding tax bills. If you happen to answer or call back, a real person will be on the line, but they will make threats. The scammers will claim that you’ll be arrested or have your property seized if you don’t give them your payment information over the phone.
This is not how the IRS collects money! The IRS will never call and demand that you pay them immediately over the phone. They don’t even call to inquire about taxes that you owe without first mailing an official letter to you.
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be with the IRS, don’t give the caller any information. Report the call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). TIGTA collects this information and uses it to investigate and arrest the scammers.
Keep up to date on the latest consumer alerts regarding tax scams, by checking out the IRS’s official page: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts