Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when scammers pose as the IRS it means trouble for taxpayers. Identity thieves may contact taxpayers through fraudulent calls, emails, texts or social media messages pretending to be the IRS. Here are tips to help taxpayers know when the IRS is contacting them.
Letters and notices
A letter or notice is usually the first way the IRS will contact a taxpayer. When a taxpayer receives a suspicious letter or notice, they can check to see if it’s really the IRS:
- Log in to their secure IRS Online Account to see if a copy of the notice or letter is in their file.
- Review common IRS letters and notices at the Understanding Your IRS Notice or Letter page on IRS.gov.
- Contact IRS customer service directly to authenticate it, if they weren’t able to authenticate in their online account.
- Verify that any collection notice from a private collection agency has the same Taxpayer Authentication Number as the Notice CP40 the taxpayer received from the IRS. Taxpayers can visit Private Debt Collection Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about verifying a private collection agency.
Phone calls
After first mailing a notice or letter to a taxpayer, IRS agents may call to confirm an appointment or discuss items for a scheduled audit. Taxpayers should know that:
- The IRS doesn’t leave pre-recorded, urgent or threatening messages. Scammers will tell victims that if they do not call back, a warrant will be issued for their arrest. Anyone making threats is a scammer.
- Private collection agencies contracted by the IRS may call taxpayers to collect certain outstanding inactive tax liabilities, but only after the taxpayer and their representative have received written notice.
- The IRS and its authorized private collection agencies will never ask a taxpayer to pay using any form of pre-paid card, store or online gift card. Taxpayers can review the IRS payments page at IRS.gov/payments for all legitimate ways to make a payment.
Email, text and social media
The IRS doesn’t first contact taxpayers by email, text message or social media channels to request personal or financial information. Some common electronic scams that thieves use are:
- Sending phishing emails to taxpayers.
- Posing as an IRS social media account to contact taxpayers about a fake bill or refund.
- Texting taxpayers about fake “tax credits” or “stimulus payments.”
These messages will often direct taxpayers to click fraudulent links they claim are IRS websites or other online tools. Again, the IRS will mail a letter or notice before calling or emailing, and it will never contact a taxpayer by social media or text message.
In person visits
The IRS recently ended most unannounced visits to taxpayers by agency revenue officers. Ending these unannounced visits to taxpayers will improve overall safety for taxpayers and IRS employees.
Tax Tip 2023-112
The IRS continues to warn the public to be alert for telephone scams and offers five tell-tale warning signs to tip you off if you get such a call. These callers claim to be with the IRS. The scammers often demand money to pay taxes. Some may try to con you by saying that you’re due a refund. The refund is a fake lure so you’ll give them your banking or other private financial information.
These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may even know a lot about you. They may alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS badge numbers. If you don’t answer, they often leave an “urgent” callback request.
The IRS respects taxpayer rights when working out payment of your taxes. So, it’s pretty easy to tell when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a sign of a scam. The IRS will never:
- Call you about taxes you owe without first mailing you an official notice.
- Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the chance to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
- Require you to use a certain payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
- Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
- Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement to have you arrested for not paying.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what to do:
- If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to talk about payment options. You also may be able to set up a payment plan online at IRS.gov.
- If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to TIGTA at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov.
- If phone scammers target you, also contact the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. Use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” to report the scam. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your complaint.
Remember, the IRS currently does not use unsolicited email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issues. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.
If you have further questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me.
IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2014-18, September 2, 2014