A rash of calls have been received in recent days by area residents from individuals identifying themselves as agents with the IRS, demanding payments be sent for overdue taxes.
The callers are reportedly extremely demanding, telling residents that if they do not grant them access to banking accounts immediately or supply payment in a timely manner that they will personally appear on their doorstep and that they stand to lose any savings, securities, even their vehicles and homes.
The voice on the other end of the line is almost always foreign. Those reporting the scam state that the callers are "relentless" in their efforts to obtain cash as back taxes owed the IRS. Even when told that the call was an obvious scam, the callers continue to demand payment and are "very threatening" in nature.
The public should be aware that the IRS NEVER calls a resident at home --ever. No matter how convincing the caller may sound, it is not an IRS official calling. It is a scam to coerce residents to send them money. Sadly, many have, and sadly, they will likely never see that money again.
One of the phone numbers that has shown up as a scam caller is 423-314-6222. It should be recognized as a scammer and should not be answered, or should be hung up on without having a discussion.
The IRS will not call consumers to tell them they owe money. They will never ask for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the phone
The IRS says that based on the 90,000 complaints that have been received through its telephone hotline, to date, they have identified approximately 1,100 victims who have lost an estimated $5 million from these scams.
"There are clear warning signs about these scams, which continue at high levels throughout the nation," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "Taxpayers should remember their first contact with the IRS will not be a call from out of the blue, but through official correspondence sent through the mail. A big red flag for these scams are angry, threatening calls from people who say they are from the IRS and urging immediate payment. This is not how we operate. People should hang up immediately and contact TIGTA or the IRS."
Other characteristics of these scams include:
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 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 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 1.800.829.1040. 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 (for example, you've never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to TIGTA at 1.800.366.4484.
You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose "Other" and then "Imposter Scams." If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words "IRS Telephone Scam" in the notes.
Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead, forward the email to phishing@irs.gov.
For more information or to report a scam, go to www.irs.gov and type "scam" in the search box.
More information on how to report phishing scams involving the IRS is available on the genuine IRS website, IRS.gov.
A portion of this article is reprinted from the official IRS website.