The government as well as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is currently shut down. Unfortunately, this is providing a perfect opportunity for scammers to pose as the IRS and attempt to obtain personal information in an effort to scam unsuspecting taxpayers. These scammers are taking advantage of the fact many taxpayers do not realize IRS agents are not working and therefore are not calling taxpayers.
Scammers will take advantage of any situation which allows them to dupe taxpayers into revealing personal information and the government shutdown is providing them the perfect situation. According to numerous complaints, scammer activity has increased since the shutdown and the calls are all similar. Most of the “agents” speak with a heavy accent when they request verification of personal information. The personal information they are seeking includes full name, Social Security number and address. If they are lucky enough to convince the taxpayer into divulging this information they will then ask for the taxpayer’s bank account number so the “overdue tax bill” can be automatically deducted thus saving the taxpayer money. If the taxpayer resists the treats begin and the calls come more frequently!
Some of the more common intimidations include threats of a visit from the sheriff or police, jail time and bank levies. For immigrants, the threats include threatening to contact immigration officials.
If you are contacted by an individual claiming to be calling from the IRS – the recommended course of action is to take a message and ask for a badge number as well as a telephone number to call back. Once the government shutdown has ended, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to inquire if you actually do have any income taxes owed but until then do not worry!! Even if you do owe money, the IRS has stated they are not issuing liens or levies while the government is shut down. Most importantly whether the government is shut down or not do not give out personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone!!
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