Additional IRS Scam Information

A few weeks ago in a previous TechTips, IRS Warns Taxpayers to Guard Against New Tricks by Scam Artists, I shared an IRS bulletin about a scam that has become one of the fastest growing con tricks of the past couple of years.

My friends Jim and Audri Lanford publish a regular newsletter called Scambusters. They recently published some additional information on the IRS scam I wanted to let you know about.

Following are a couple of highlights:

• An addition to the phone call scam is an email with bogus IRS CP2000 Notices, saying the recipient has been audited and now faces a Final Demand for payment.
• Remarkably, the fraudsters have even tried scamming Canadian citizens in the misplaced belief that Canadians have to file tax returns with the IRS — that’s in addition to other scammers posing as officers of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

What to Do if You’re a Victim

If the worst happens, here’s what you should do.

• If you’ve received threatening calls and paid a scammer, tell the police, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
• If you receive a letter from the IRS saying two (or more) returns have been filed in your name or that your identity has been stolen, call the number in the letter. But be sure the letter is genuine! You may have to give a reference number or some other identifying information but you won’t have to give your Social Security number — so don’t.
• If you know or suspect you may be the victim of tax ID theft but haven’t received a letter, call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490. They’ll take details and tell you what to do next, which will probably involve downloading and completing an Identity Theft Affidavit. That should be sufficient to straighten out your IRS record — it usually takes a couple of weeks — but since your identity details have obviously been stolen, don’t forget to take other precautions including checking with the credit reporting agencies.

I recommend you read the full issue of the Scambusters issue, What To Do If You’re an IRS Scam Victim, and sign up while you’re there. They provide great information.

The important thing to remember is that if you’re an IRS scam victim, repairing the damage is every bit as important as trying to recover the money you might have lost.

Have you or someone you know been scammed lately? Share your experiences in our comment section.