Beware IRS Phone-Number Scams |
By PIO 1st Sgt. Eric Quinn | |
February 11, 2016 | |
The IRS Phone Number is (800)829-1040. The IRS doesn't call first and doesn't threaten audits. Don't give your personal info to a caller claiming to be the IRS. The IRS continues to warn about telephone scams, which are increasing in number. IRS phone-number scams The IRS placed phone scams as No. 1 on its dirty dozen tax scams list this year, up from No. 2 last year, when it received more than 90,000 complaints about such calls. It's a quickly growing problem, as phone scams didn't even make the top 12 list in 2013. As IRS Commissioner Josh Koskinen said the other day, "If you are surprised to be hearing from us, you are not hearing from us. Our way of contacting you is by letter." If you do get a call from someone claiming to be the IRS and you haven't received a letter from the IRS beforehand, then do the following: 1. Ask for a call-back number and an employee badge number. If you know you don't owe taxes to the IRS and you don't think the call was legitimate, you can report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800)366-4484 or at www.tigta.gov, or you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission on their site. If you received a fraudulent call, please report it. Combatting fraud is difficult because many people don't report fraud attempts, while those who fall victim often either don't realize they are victims or are too embarrassed to report it and just quietly take the loss. Spread the word Make sure your older loved ones know about the dangers of IRS scams. A recent study found that criminal fraud, such as IRS phone-number scams, cost the elderly an estimated $13 billion a year. The elderly are frequently targeted by scammers because they have often experienced some cognitive decline and memory loss. Interestingly, young senior citizens are most at risk of falling prey to financial abuse, as they are least likely to have recognized a decline in judgement or memory loss. As millions of Americans await their tax refunds, anxiety that you didn't do your taxes correctly may make you more susceptible to tax scams. Don't let you and your loved ones lose money to a tax scam. Source: Wikimedia Commons. |
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