IRS Scam Largest of Its Kind Yet, What Taxpayers Should Know – AARP

At least 20,000 taxpayers have been contacted in this sophisticated ruse, added Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Russell George, with “thousands of victims” having already paid more than $1 million to fraudsters posing as IRS agents.

The scheme goes like this: The Taxman tricksters claim you owe taxes, and demand immediate payment using a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer. Refuse and you’re threatened with arrest, deportation or the loss of your business or driver’s license.

To suggest further authenticity for their phony phone calls, the scammers have been known to also spoof an IRS toll-free phone number on your caller ID, give common names and fake IRS badge numbers, and follow up their calls with emails purporting to be from the agency.

“If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and uses threatening language if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling,” George said in a statement.

Here’s why,,,

IRS Scam Largest of Its Kind Yet, What Taxpayers Should Know – AARP