Post by scrapnnana on Mar 31, 2015 22:43:03 GMT
Just a reminder that the IRS does NOT contact you by phone unless you ignore their letters. Today we got a phishing scam call that was a recorded message claiming that it was our final notice that the IRS is supposedly bringing a lawsuit against us. The only letter we have received from the IRS recently wasn't anything like that.
These types of scams are very common near tax time. If you go to irs.gov, you can find info about such scams and how to deal with them. For starters, if you answer the phone and a live person claims to be from the IRS, ask them for their badge number and name. Then call the number at the irs.gov website, and ONLY the number on the IRS official website.
The IRS doesn't do robo calls. That was my first clue. Second was they did not ask for anyone by name, and the third was that we have received no letters from the IRS claiming we owe them any money, just one saying that they had adjusted our return slightly. Fourth, the recorded message said Internal Revenue Services, not Internal Revenue Service. The official name is singular, not plural. The gal in the recording had excellent English, but there were a couple of slightly odd little incongruencies that I noticed, but only when I listened to the message left on my voice mail multiple times and transcribed it for submitting their phishing scam to the real IRS.
I just got the call today and reported it promptly, complete with the phone number that I was supposed to call with my questions (and social security number, presumably), so I hope the IRS nails them to the wall.
These types of scams are very common near tax time. If you go to irs.gov, you can find info about such scams and how to deal with them. For starters, if you answer the phone and a live person claims to be from the IRS, ask them for their badge number and name. Then call the number at the irs.gov website, and ONLY the number on the IRS official website.
The IRS doesn't do robo calls. That was my first clue. Second was they did not ask for anyone by name, and the third was that we have received no letters from the IRS claiming we owe them any money, just one saying that they had adjusted our return slightly. Fourth, the recorded message said Internal Revenue Services, not Internal Revenue Service. The official name is singular, not plural. The gal in the recording had excellent English, but there were a couple of slightly odd little incongruencies that I noticed, but only when I listened to the message left on my voice mail multiple times and transcribed it for submitting their phishing scam to the real IRS.
I just got the call today and reported it promptly, complete with the phone number that I was supposed to call with my questions (and social security number, presumably), so I hope the IRS nails them to the wall.
