New tax scam

neacpa

I am sure we have all heard about people receiving calls saying they are the IRS and there are taxes owed and if they are not paid immediately that they will send out a sheriff with a warrant for the person's arrest. At least a couple of times a week, I will have someone call my office asking me why they owe taxes because they received this call. I have to tell them the IRS is not going to call them but notify people by written correspondence.

Today, I had someone screen shot an email they received saying because they had signed up for notifications from irs.gov that they were being notified they owed taxes and to pay them immediately or else have their assets levied against. Looked legit enough to make some believe it. It had the IRS logo on it but the wording is off and couple of things that would be capitalized are not.

Something else for people to get their blood pressure up.

11b6r

My forecast for the NEXT wave of scammers-

1. You were signed up for email notifications with the IRS.
2. You OVERPAID your taxes, and we owe YOU money.
3. You have 7 days to accept the refund.
4. You can reply to this email to give us information on where you want your funds deposited.


Bet you there is a boatload of folks that would jump at that, more than a Nigerian prince or the daughter of a cocoa merchant.

SW0320

That scam is already being tried.

Had someone that I know get a call and they were told they have a refund due for an on line tech service they had signed up for years ago.

All they had to do was let the person calling control their computer and to give the person info to access thier bank accounts and they would credit the refund to their bank account.

They watched the person access their bank accounts on screen and do the refund. Of course once they had the access info they went in afterwards and they cleaned out their checking, savings and IRA accounts.

What amazes about this case is two things, one info about these scams is on the news almost daily, yet people still get scammed.

Second the person this happened to was a licensed health care professional.

bpost

Human nature is to believe the unbelievable when it involves money. The internet has been around for 20 years or so. These email, fax and telephone scams are common and widely reported across the media including radio, TV, print and internet.

If people are still falling for them after the mass dissemination of warnings about them for decades, then they deserve to be suckered in.

fordsix

i wont belive till they come lookin[}:)]

Junkballer

I always owe the IRS taxes and probably always will so those calls don't scare me one bit [:)]. I've learned how the IRS works, in fact I think I've got a diploma laying around somewhere showing I have degree in IRS, they know me so well now they even call me by my nickname [:D],....they're really nice people just doing a lousy job for little money [;)]

wpage

Since Gov.com owns the post office. Why would they bother jerking around on the phone.

If you are audited. You have the pleasure of meeting with a IRS agent and writing them a check in person.

Mark G

I had one of those calls not too long ago. Kept them on the phone for awhile. After they did their script I asked them a couple of questions

What is my Social Security Number?

Answer: We're not allowed to release that information.

Really, Its my SSN.

Then I asked what bank account number they were going to withdraw the funds from?

They said that I would have to give them that information. I said its a direct deposit refund so use the same account. They said they didn't save that information.

Finally I asked what my address was. I figured they had to have that. Nope. Wouldn't give that out either.

I then thanked them for staying on the line with me for so long as it gave my department the time it needed to trace the call and get units to their address.

Next sound I heard was a click.