When I, Nellie, get a phone call from the IRS, it really IS the IRS. Income taxes are my job, after all. If a phone call is the first contact YOU get from the IRS know this…IT IS PROBABLY NOT THE IRS! The first contact you will get from the IRS is usually a letter. If the IRS wants to talk to you, they will contact you by regular “snail” mail. They will NOT contact you by email. That email is phony, too. There are SO many ways people commit fraud. I have spent my life learning how to do things right. It boggles my mind that other people spend their lives trying to figure out how to scam the system. Most of those people are in jail or are on their way to jail. Personally, I like my own bed and my own cooking better than the bread and water jail diet. The IRS wants you to beware of these types of scams. The callers pretend to be from the IRS. They hope to be able to steal money from you. They also hope to steal your identity. The phone scams include many variations, such as…

• Sometimes they say you owe money.
• Sometimes they say you are entitled to a huge refund.
• Some calls threaten arrest.
• Some calls threaten your driver’s license revocation.
• Sometimes these calls are paired with follow-up calls from people saying they are from the local police department or the state motor vehicle department.

According to IRS.gov, the phony scams can include some of these characteristics:

“Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.

“Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.

“Scammers “spoof” or imitate the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.

“Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.

“Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.

“After threatening victims with jail time or a driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.”

“If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do: If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue.

“If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes, then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484”

Next week I’ll discuss some of the other IRS’ “Dirty Dozen” scams for you to guard against.