Beware of Tax Scams

Podcast Transcription 

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Hi everyone! Welcome to this episode of PFCU’s Money Talk podcast. I’m your host, Maddy. Tax season is here so, it’s the perfect time to remind you that scammers use this time of year to try and trick you into giving them personal information. It’s important to be aware of these scams to avoid becoming a victim.

I’ve talked about before how scammers are known for pressuring and threatening their potential victims and these tax scams and these scammers are no different. The IRS is never going to pressure you to pay “now or else”. They’re not going to threaten to arrest you or deport you. They will always give you the chance to question or appeal the amount you owe in taxes.

And just like any other email or text message that you get, make sure to look for red flags that it could be a scam including misspellings, oddly spelled words, grammatical errors and anything that doesn’t look quite right. Scammers are getting really good at using logos that look legitimate or taking logos from sites and using them and making communications look very real so, keep a close eye on that.

And going right along with that, I want to make sure to talk about if the IRS were to contact you, how they’re going to do that so that you can take the steps to find out if the communication is legitimate.  

So, the first time they contact you is typically going to be through mail delivered by the post office. And if you want to verify that a letter was actually sent through the IRS you can search for it on irs.gov. Some reasons you might get a letter include a balance being due, your refund changing, if they have a question, or need to verify your identity, if something was changed with your return, or if they are delayed in processing your return.

The IRS might also email or text you but only if they have your permission. So, if you did not give that permission and you get a text or email that looks like it’s from the IRS, it’s a scam.

They’re never going to call you for payment asking for your debit or credit card information. Now they might call to discuss your case, verify information or set up a meeting. But if someone is claiming to be from the IRS calls and is asking for payment, it’s a scam.

A fax might be sent to verify or request employment information.

And lastly, meeting you in person is rare but even then, they will typically send a letter before they visit and will have proper identification on them.

So, the IRS website also lays out things that they will not do including taking payment on social media, accepting gift cards or prepaid debit cards for payment, making threats to call the police, taking your citizenship status, drivers license or business license, making robocalls and mailing tax debt resolution ads. They are not going to do any of these things.

Make sure to keep a sharp eye out for scammers sending fake tax bills to get you to pay them or telling you that you have an unclaimed refund. Also look out for dishonest tax preparers and for people and influencers giving bad tax advice on social media, and a big one that the IRS shares is advice to lie on your tax forms.

Make sure to stay safe out there during this tax season! And thanks for listening.

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