IRS
Warns of Latest Scam Variation
Involving Bogus “Federal Student
Tax”
The
Internal Revenue Service today issued
a warning to taxpayers about bogus phone
calls from IRS impersonators demanding
payment for a non-existent tax, the “Federal
Student Tax.”
Even
though the tax deadline has come and gone,
scammers continue to use varied strategies
to trick people, in this case students.
In this newest twist, they try to convince
people to wire money immediately to the
scammer. If the victim does not fall quickly
enough for this fake “federal student
tax”, the scammer threatens to report
the student to the police.
“These
scams and schemes continue to evolve nationwide,
and now they’re trying to trick students,”
said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Taxpayers
should remain vigilant and not fall prey
to these aggressive calls demanding immediate
payment of a tax supposedly owed.”
Scam
artists frequently masquerade as being
from the IRS, a tax company and sometimes
even a state revenue department. Many
scammers use threats to intimidate and
bully people into paying a tax bill. They
may even threaten to arrest, deport or
revoke the driver’s license of their
victim if they don’t get the money.
Some
examples of the varied tactics seen this
year are:
• Demanding immediate
tax payment for taxes owed on an iTunes
gift card.
• Soliciting W-2 information
from payroll and human resources professionals
(IR-2016-34)
• “Verifying”
tax return information over the phone
(IR-2016-40)
• Pretending to be from
the tax preparation industry (IR-2016-28)
The
IRS urges taxpayers to stay vigilant against
these calls and to know the telltale signs
of a scam demanding payment.
The
IRS Will Never:
• Call to demand immediate
payment over the phone, nor will the agency
call about taxes owed without first having
mailed you a bill.
• Threaten to immediately
bring in local police or other law-enforcement
groups to have you arrested for not paying.
• 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.
If
you get a phone call from someone claiming
to be from the IRS and asking for money
and you don’t owe taxes, here’s
what you should do:
• Do not give out any
information. Hang up immediately.
• Contact TIGTA to report
the call. Use their IRS Impersonation
Scam Reporting web page or call 800-366-4484.
• Report it to the Federal
Trade Commission by visiting FTC.gov and
clicking on “File a Consumer Complaint.”
Please add “IRS Telephone Scam”
in the notes.
• If you think you might
owe taxes, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.
More
information on how to report phishing
or phone scams is available on IRS.gov.
