I got a phone call from the IRS last week! Well, the very-computer-sounding voice said it was the IRS. “Hello, this is the IRS. We have been trying to reach you. The IRS is suing you. This is your final notice. Please call us at (505) 258-XXXX to resolve this issue…”
Instantly, I knew this was a scam - so I hung-up. And, of course, I didn’t call the number back.
This phone call made me think, though, “How did I know it was a scam and not real?”
Besides the very fishy-sounding computer voice, I’ve read lots of articles posted on this blog, as well as TaxAudit’s main website, warning people about scammers pretending to be the IRS. Plus, I remembered one overwhelmingly simple piece of information: the IRS will not call asking for money unless they have already mailed you a bill.
So, my real concern is: what would my Grandma have thought if she had gotten the call?
I’m hoping she would have recognized it as a scam right away and hung up. Honestly, though, I bet the call would have scared her and she would have called the number back. During that phone call, the scammer would have then frightened her even more and threatened to take away her hard-earned retirement if she didn’t give him a credit card or bank account number right away to take care of her "IRS issue."
Unfortunately, these IRS telephone scams do work and people lose money to these con-artists all the time. This is why I feel fortunate that part of TaxAudit’s mission is to provide the best taxpayer education available - and our company lives up to its mission.
Below are some of the tax scam articles TaxAudit has posted previously, with all the insider info on how to be prepared if and when scammers do come calling. Consider sharing them with your friends and family to help get the word out about these scams.
No Rest for the Tax Scammers
Tax Man or Tax Scam?
The “Dirty Dozen” – Part 1: Scams 1-4
The Scam-Olympics Have Arrived