BEWARE: Tax Scam Phone Calls and Emails

Please beware that there are a multitude of tax scams out there and they are getting increasingly worse.  The IRS routinely sends out warnings about these scams, but many people fall prey to them nonetheless.   Please be extraordinarily careful about responding to any requests for personal information purporting to be from the IRS.

The most common scam is a phone call purportedly from the IRS warning that the IRS is about to start collection enforcement actions – often referencing jail time – and stating that the recipient MUST call a number to provide credit card information or cash to avoid immediate collection levies.  Calls such as these are a complete sham, as the IRS does NOT call about collections until after completion of a formal assessment process that is initiated by mail.  

Unfortunately, more sophisticated versions of this scam are now being done as phishing emails.  In these instances, an email arrives that looks official and may even originate from an email address that also looks vaguely official.  The email threatens the recipient with immediate levy unless he or she responds to the email by going to a link and providing personal information.  One such email was recently circulated that had the word “Treasury” in the email address.  Again, you will NOT receive an email from the IRS regarding an audit or an assessment unless you have received prior notification by mail and you are communicating with someone already.  If you receive anything like this, please DO NOT respond without getting someone to review and help you.

Finally, identity theft and false tax returns are a huge problem for the IRS.  Please be careful about safeguarding your identity.  Many people have reported completely illegitimate email requests to update various banking or credit card information, even though the emails look official and and originate from plausibly official email addresses.  Oftentimes this information is stolen and used to file false tax returns claiming refunds.  The perpetrators of these crimes have stolen billions of dollars in fraudulent refunds using stolen identification information.   

The IRS has more information about these types of fraud on its web site.  If you have any questions, please contact a member of our tax team or one of the authors below.