Greenwich Police are warning residents of IRS tax scammers. The IRS will never call you on the phone about unpaid taxes. In fact, they use regular mail.
The recent tax scams, callers will demand a prepaid debit card, wire transfer or a credit card number for payment. If the victim doesn’t comply, the caller threatens to arrest or deport the target, or take away their driver’s license or business.
The callers who commit this fraud may even know the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number and make the caller-ID appear as if the IRS is calling. Often, they call a second time claiming to be to be the police or DMV, adn the caller ID appears to support the claim.
Here’s what to do if you receive one of these calls:
If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS asking for a payment, here’s what to do:
- If you might owe federal taxes, hang up and call the IRS at (800) 829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
- If you don’t owe taxes, call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484.
- You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments in your complaint.
If you receive what looks like a bogus email from sender claiming to be the IRS, forward emails from the IRS to [email protected]. Do not open any attachments or click on any links in those emails.
More details are available from the genuine IRS warning on imposters or from the Federal Trade Commission.