The IRS Is Not Calling You
Tax season means scammers are engaging in fraudulent activities. You may be contacted by phone, email, or even on social media by someone claiming to be on the IRS, threatening to bring the sheriff into the case (this happened to Lifehacker employees) if you don’t pay.
The IRS has warned over the past few years about the growing prevalence of fraud trying to steal your identity. While many of these are carried out using online phishing tactics, many scams are still carried out over the phone. Callers claim to be IRS employees , use fictitious IRS ID badge names and numbers, and can make the caller ID look like the agency is calling. Other types of scams are carried out by people posing as your bank or tax specialist.
But know this for sure: the IRS is not calling you – and they certainly won’t threaten you with police action or demand that you pay them money at that moment. As the agency explains on its website , “The IRS does not contact taxpayers via email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information.”
This guide clarifies that the IRS will never:
- Calls requiring immediate payment using a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card, iTunes gift card, or bank transfer.
- Asks the taxpayer to make a payment to an individual or entity other than the US Treasury.
- Threatens to immediately call the local police or other law enforcement groups, stating that they could arrest the taxpayer for non-payment.
- Requires the payment of taxes without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to dispute or appeal the amount due.
One of the newest cases of telephone scams claims that the caller can suspend or revoke your Social Security number. A recent phishing email scam uses subject lines such as “Automatic Income Tax Reminder” or “Electronic Tax Return Reminder” to allow readers to click a malicious link to “access” their tax return or invoice.
In most cases, the IRS will contact you by regular mail and send you multiple notices of any issue you need to resolve. The agency makes phone calls, but this is rare. If he calls in person, the representative “will always provide two forms of official credentials called pocket commission and identity verification (PIV) credentials.”
If you receive an email that you suspect is phishing, you can forward it to phishing@irs.gov. You can also report suspicious emails and phone calls to the same address. Another option is to report suspicions of fraud to the Inspector General of the Treasury Revenue Service , a website that looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2004, but we assure you that it is legal.
This story was originally published in 2018 and was updated in February 2020.