IRS, SOCIAL SECURITY AND TREASURY SCAMS: CRIMINALS...ALL OF THEM

If you have a phone, it is almost guaranteed that you will get a scam call within the next six months.  There are many versions of the scam.  Many of the calls are by criminals who pose as employees of Social Security, the IRS or the Treasury Department.

You can easily identify these callers as impostors and criminals.  If the callers do any of the following, it is a scam:

• Call to demand immediate payment; no agency will call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Threaten you with arrest, penalties, deportation or other threats.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone, or ask you to wire or transfer money.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
• Ask you to verify your name, Social Security number, address or other personal information.  (A government agency already has this information. Scammers do not, so they must trick you into giving them the information).

 Government agencies always use the US mail to contact individuals with problems about their taxes, Social Security issues or other matters.  They do not use the telephone as their first method of contact.  If the call surprises you, it is a scam.  Guaranteed.

These criminals use 3 methods you should be aware of:


1.  Robo calling.  A computer dials thousands of calls per day automatically.  When you answer, a person comes on the line and lies to you about who he or she is.  These people often (not always) have a heavy foreign accept or seem to have difficulty with changing verb tenses or other use of the English language.  A sure tip off.  A woman who called me recently pronounced Florida as "Flo-RID-ia," a sure sign she speaks English as a second language.

2.  Spoofing.  This means the callers invent fake telephone numbers that appear to be local to you.  The caller may be in India but his number shows up on your caller ID as a local number, very similar to your own number. This puts you off guard because it seems like a local call.  It is not.
 
3.  Phishing.  This is where the caller pretends to know who you are but really does not.  He or she immediately begins to fish (phish) for information.  They will ask you to "verify" your name, Social Security number, address or date of birth.  Remember, the callers do not have any of this information.  They are depending on you to give it to them.  Do not.  You can verify that they are phishing with just a few questions of your own.  Ask them:

• How do you show my name on the account?  (They don't)
• What do you show as my home address?  (They don't know).
• Give me the Social Security number you are calling about?  (They can't).

If you get one of these dangerous phishing calls, it is imperative that you do not give them any information, even your name.  If they don't have your name, they obviously have no reason to be calling you.  Hang up immediately.  The longer you talk, the more danger you are in of having your identity stolen.

We get calls from our clients every day telling us about scam calls they have received.  We want you to be safe.  If you get a call you think may be a scam call, hang up immediately.  You will never get in trouble by hanging up on one of these calls.  You only get in trouble by talking to them. Hang up.