The Latest Tricks From IRS Tax Scammers

The Latest Tricks From IRS Tax Scammers

The IRS has issued several alerts recently regarding tax scams, which seem to bloom like flowers every year at this time. Typically ranging from Internet phishing scams and malware schemes to IRS impersonations, these groups have increased their sophistication as the consumer gains knowledge of their traditional scams.

A new aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers has been making the rounds throughout the country. Michael Wastvedt, managing partner of Wastvedt & Co. CPA firm in Del Mar, states, “One of our clients received repeated phone calls and even threats of a warrant for his arrest if he didn’t pay immediately over the phone.” As a new twist, some individuals impersonating Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees or Treasury Department employees are demanding tax payments on iTunes gift cards. This is a variation of the scam that asks for tax payments on prepaid debit/credit cards.

“To be clear, the real IRS will not initiate contact by phone, email, text, or social media to ask for personal or financial information and demand immediate payment,” says Wastvedt. “If you have any question to the legitimacy of the call, you should contact your accountant or CPA to investigate.”

According to the IRS, scammers have also changed tactics by calling under the guise of verifying tax return information over the phone. The latest variation being seen in the last few weeks tries to play off the current tax season. Scam artists call saying they have your tax return, and they just need to verify a few details to process your return. The scam tries to get you to give up personal information such as a Social Security number or personal financial information, such as bank numbers or credit cards.

The IRS is also warning business owners to be aware of a new scam targeting payroll and HR professionals. This tricky approach is a new emerging phishing email scheme that purports to be from company executives and requests personal information on employees. The email contains the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this scam, the “CEO” sends an email to a company payroll office employee and requests a list of employees and financial and personal information including SSNs. 858.201.6850, wastvedtco.com