IRS PHONE SCAM

Please beware of this IRS Impersonation Scam.  I have heard from one client in NJ who was called yesterday (8/2).

 

The following information is from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) -

 

WHAT?

 

Individuals impersonating Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees are making unsolicited threatening telephone calls to taxpayers. They use the threat of arrest to obtain money from victims by falsely representing that the victims owe back taxes or other fees. The perpetrators demand that the victims send them money via iTunes cards, other prepaid debit cards, money orders, or wire transfers from their banks.

 

WHO?

 

The perpetrators are individuals who falsely claim to be IRS employees and tell intended victims they owe taxes and must pay using an iTunes card, other pre-paid debit card, money order, or wire transfer. Some of them are in the United States; however, there is a strong international component to this crime as well.

 

WHEN/WHERE?

 

Since October 2013, TIGTA has received reports of these fraudulent calls in every State in the country. The perpetrators are calling with multiple caller IDs from around the world.  

 

WHAT TO DO?

 

First, hang up! Do not engage with these callers. If you owe Federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.

 

If you do not owe taxes, fill out the “IRS Impersonation scam” form on TIGTA’s website, www.tigta.gov or call TIGTA at 800-366-4484. You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments in your complaint.     

 

TTFN

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE WORTH REPEATING

The IRS phone scams have been ongoing for over a year now. 

According to “Phone Scams Continue to be Serious Threat, Remain on IRS ‘Dirty Dozen’ Listof Tax Scams for the 2015 Filing Season” from the IRS website -

“The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has received reports of roughly 290,000 contacts since October 2013 and has become aware of nearly 3,000 victims who have collectively paid over $14 million as a result of the scam, in which individuals make unsolicited calls to taxpayers fraudulently claiming to be IRS officials and demanding that they send them cash via prepaid debit cards.”

Here is an important message worth constant repeating –

THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE WILL NEVER INITIATE CONTACT WITH A TAXPAYER BY TELEPHONE OR EMAIL.  THEY WILL ALWAYS SEND A WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTICE VIA POSTAL MAIL.

A long-time friend and client recently received a phone call with this pre-recorded message - "We have tried to reach you many times.  This is the IRS.  Please call this number.  We are preparing a case against you."  The message then provided a phone number to call.

My friend correctly immediately emailed me.  I explained that is was a scam and told her to ignore it - and if they call again to hang-up. 

IF YOU RECEIVE A PHONE CALL CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE HANG UP.  

TTFN

AN URGENT CALL FROM A CLIENT

A client called me.  Or actually she tried but could not reach me, so she emailed me and said it was urgent that I call her right away.

When I did call her she said she had received a phone call this morning from a person who said he was from the IRS and needed information to satisfy a balance due.   

The client was skeptical and said she had never received a notice of any balance due.  The person on the phone said that a letter was delivered on November 15^th, but there was nobody at her home to accept the letter.

The client was told that she could not call anyone, not even her husband (who is deceased), and that if she hung up without providing the necessary information he would send someone to her home immediately to arrest her.  Thankfully she did hang up.  Obviously nobody showed up at her door.

1) The IRS will never initiate contact with a taxpayer by telephone or email.  The IRS will always send a written notice via postal mail.  If you do not respond to a written notice, if requested, on a timely basis you will receive several more letters or notices in the mail over a long period of time.  But everything will be done via postal mail.

2) If a letter from the IRS has been sent it will always be mailed through regular postal channels.  If the client had not been at home on November 15^th when the letter was supposedly delivered it would have been left in the mailbox, or, if, as is often the case, it was send via registered mail a green or orange card would have been left in the mailbox telling the assressee to go to the Post Office to sign for and pick up the letter.

3) Nothing with the IRS is ever immediate.  You have 90-days, 60-days, 30-days, and multiples thereof, in various situations to respond to any IRS notice. 

4) One spouse can always discuss the issue on a jointly filed return with the other spouse.  And you always have the right to contact a lawyer, or if dealing with the IRS an Enrolled Agent, to review any notice, request for information, or alleged balance due before responding.

5) The IRS will never threaten to, and will never, send a federal officer to your door to take you into custody if you do not agree to immediately respond to them.

6) The IRS does not need you to provide credit card or bank information to get money from you for a seriously outstanding tax debt.  If they want they can always obtain bank information via a legal search and place a lien or levy on, and garnish, any bank accounts you have.  But the Service will not resort to this for a long time.

I told all this to my client, who said she had figured it must be a phone scam but just wanted to be sure.

If you ever receive a telephone call from someone alleging to be from the Internal Revenue Service tell the person to “put it in writing” and immediately hang up.

If you ever receive an email allegedly from the Internal Revenue Service do not open it.  Forward the email unopened to phishing@irs.gov and delete it immediately.   

 

If you receive any correspondence in the mail from the IRS, or a state tax agency, give the letter, or a copy, to your tax professional immediately.

TTFN

THIS JUST IN – FROM THE NJ DIVISION OF TAXATION

I just received the following email (highlights are mine) -

 

“The New Jersey Division of Taxation will begin mailing the 2012 Homestead Benefit applications to eligible homeowners in early October. You indicated on your 2011 Homestead Benefit application that you preferred to receive your 2012 application by E-mail instead of receiving a paper application packet in the U.S. mail.

 

You will receive this E-mail on or about October 9, 2013 which will contain a link to file the application from the Division of Taxation’s website.

 

If you do not receive an E-mail from the NJ Division of Taxation containing the filing information for your 2012 Homestead Benefit application by the end of October 2013, please contact the Division of Taxation’s Customer Service Center at 1-888-238-1233.

 

The application is due by November 22, 2013.”

 

And while at the NJDOT website this morning I found the following warning (the highlight is theirs) -

 

“The Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services is alerting all New Jersey businesses to be aware of mailings concerning an ‘Annual Corporate Records Form’.  A private company is sending the mailings, which solicit a fee of $125 in return for the recording of corporate shareholders, directors and officers.  Business should be aware that the State of New Jersey does not require this form to be filed. Businesses should not be confused by the official appearance of the mailings. They are not connected with the State of New Jersey’s business entity annual report process, and the State has no affiliation with the sender.

New Jersey businesses that receive the mailing may report this by:

 

1.   Filing a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, PO Box 45025, Newark, NJ 07101.

 

Visit http://www.nj.gov/oag/ca/complaint/ocp.pdf to download a complaint form; or

 

2.   Contacting the United States Postal Inspections Service to report mail fraud at: (877) 876-2455 or

http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx.

 

Corporate officers and business representatives who have questions about these mailings and the legal requirements to submit corporate annual reports to the State of New Jersey should contact the Division’s Hotline at 609-292-9292.”

 

I seem to recall receiving a similar solicitation in the mail a while back for my PA corporation.  I threw it in the trash.