A Guide to Recognizing and Reporting Scam Phone Calls and Texts
Unscrupulous persons have been creating methods of stealing from innocent others for hundreds of years now. Scams have been around for a long time, but they’ve taken off in the new century. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service estimates that Americans have lost millions of dollars alone as a result of tax frauds. In 2020, they will be targeted through phone, snail mail, and email, as well as through social media and text messaging, among other methods.
Scams with the COVID-19
COVID-19, the new coronavirus that is expected to sweep the nation and the globe in 2020, has being targeted by scammers. The services they provide in return for a “processing fee” range from immunizations and treatment alternatives to assistance in having those government emergency relief cheques processed a little bit quicker or in greater quantities.
Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that they are sending emails on their behalf. The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning on March 18, 2020, stating that these fraudsters are just getting warmed up at this point.
A warning from the Better Business Bureau has also been issued, stating that seniors have been targeted and given subsidies to assist them in meeting their medical expenses. Despite the fact that this scammer claims to be from the “U.S. Emergency Grants Federation,” which does not exist, he will inform you that he needs your Social Security number in order to determine whether or not you are qualified for assistance. Don’t take a bite.
According to the Better Business Bureau, you may get a text message or even come across a social media post that offers a “special COVID-19 government award,” among other things. After following the links, you will be sent to a website that seems to be official in nature, where you will be requested to give personal and bank account information in order to authenticate your identification. Please don’t do that.
Calls from the “Internal Revenue Service”
Fake calls from the Internal Revenue Service have been around far longer than the coronavirus, and these fraudsters gained momentum in 2019, utilizing new methods and expanding their nets to include recent immigrants as well.
These authoritative, and often furious and hostile, callers may claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service, and they will frequently provide names and ID badge numbers. Make no mistake about it, they’re really talented at what they do. It’s possible that you’ll hear fake office sounds playing in the background.
Most of the time, they’ll inform you that you have an outstanding tax debt and that you must pay it immediately or face deportation or jail. Your instructions will include buying a prepaid debit or gift card and delivering the information to the caller, as well as sending money to the caller’s bank account to settle the debt. If you reject, you may even get a second follow-up contact from someone posing as a member of the police enforcement community.
This fraud also comes in the form of an unexpected tax return, which is another variation on the theme. Providing the “IRS” with certain personal information, such as your bank account number, is all that’s required for you to be able to collect your money.
The “Taxpayer Advocate Service” will contact you.
This one gained significant traction at the end of 2019. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an agency inside the Internal Revenue Service, will be contacting you, according to your caller ID. It is not the case. One red indicator is that the TAS number that displays might be from either Brooklyn or Houston, with area codes like as 718, 347, 917, 929 and 713, 81, 346, and 832, respectively, in the Brooklyn or Houston region.
Essentially, they are information-gathering fraudsters who will try to persuade you to divulge your Social Security number or other personal information that they may use to steal your identity later on. They may even be aware of the final four digits of your Social Security number. They’re on the lookout for the remaining five.
Calls from the “Social Security Administration”
In addition, the Social Security Administration was implicated in numerous frauds in the year 2019. Another common ruse is a robocall that leaves a voicemail alerting victims to the prospect that their Social Security number is going to be revoked or suspended, generally because they owe money to the Internal Revenue Service.
These con artists will advise you to pay up immediately over the phone, and they, too, may already be in possession of the last four digits of your Social Security number.
How to Tell whether It’s the Government or Someone Else
It’s a dead giveaway when you get an email or a text message that you’re being scammed. The same may be said for everything that appears on social media platforms. Simply said, the IRS does not and has never reached out to taxpayers through email, text message, or any other kind of internet communication, and neither will any other federal government agency in the future.
When it comes to phone calls claiming to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service, the TAS will never call you to begin contact; instead, they will only call you in response to a call or request for aid that you have made to them in the past.
The fact that the IRS would never tell you how to make a payment, much less ask for a debit or gift card number, a wire transfer account information, or even a credit card number over the phone, is another red flag.
Legitimate, official IRS payment methods for legitimate tax obligations are accessible on the internet in a variety of formats. The Internal Revenue Service will never instruct you to make a payment to anybody other than the United States Treasury Department.
Finally, the Internal Revenue Service is more than capable of fighting its own fights. No local law enforcement or immigration officials are ever involved, and there is never any prospect of instant deportation or detention. You may also be confident that it will not pursue you for a tax refund that it owes you, nor will it charge you an additional cost to hasten the delivery of the coronavirus stimulus check to you.
If You Owe Taxes, You Should Know What to Do.
If you genuinely owe the IRS money, you’ve most likely been aware of it for quite some time before now. You should have received a letter in the mail from the United States Postal Service informing you about the amount owed and your alternatives if you believe the amount is erroneous. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a big fan of snail mail and will nearly always contact taxpayers in this manner initially.
Even if the IRS comes to your door in person to collect a large sum of money after sending you multiple notices, the agent or agents will always provide you with two kinds of identification: a pocket commission and an HSPD-12 card, which is issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Furthermore, they will not demand instant, on-the-spot payment of any kind.
What to Do – and What Not to Do Do
If you get an unexpected phone call from the IRS or any other government agency, do not pick up the phone. Instead, make a note of the caller ID number. If you happen to be the one who answers the phone, hang up immediately. Continued use of the phone line may be seen as gullibility, resulting in a flood of calls in the future.
It is never appropriate to phone the number back after receiving an automated message ordering you to do so, nor should you hit a key to be switched to a “live operator.” This, too, is akin to waving a flag to alert the scammer that you’re willing to receive further calls from him. You should also avoid clicking on links in emails or text messages. It is possible that you may wind up downloading a virus or malware.
Never give out any personal information to a caller who asks for it.
What to Do If You Need Help
If one of these con artists attempts to con you, you may take many actions to bring him or her to justice:
To report phone calls, contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484 or go to tigta.gov/report-phone-calls. You may also file a complaint with the IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting page if you encounter one.
The Federal Trade Commission may be contacted at FTC.gov if you believe you have been the victim of a phone scam. The “FTC Complaint Assistant” is a specific tool designed to assist you in filing a complaint with the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requests that you put the phrases “IRS Telephone Scam” in the remarks. You may also contact them by phone at 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Email scams should be sent to phishing@irs.gov. If you make a note of the caller IDs and callback numbers of fraudsters, you may submit a complaint to the appropriate authorities. The words “IRS Phone Scam” should be included in the subject line.
If you have a door-to-door salesperson who comes to your house flashing a pocket commission and an HSPD-12 card, you should ask them for a dedicated IRS telephone number. You may phone it to report the visit as well as to check the information on the IDs to ensure that the agent is who he or she claims to be.
