CARL WATTS & ASSOCIATES

March 21, 2016

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Watch Out
For New Scamming Tactics
A few weeks ago we explored the annual dirty dozen list from the IRS with the top twelve scams for 2016, pretty much similar to the previous year’s list. Just a few days ago, IRS communicated that they are receiving new reports of scammers calling under the guise of verifying tax return information over the phone. We believe it is worth alerting all our customers and friends against this new and evolved scheme and a few other new scams.


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, bank numbers or credit cards.

The IRS continues to hear reports of phone scams as well as e-mail phishing schemes across the country. They announced they have received reports of roughly 896,000 phone scam contacts since October 2013 and have become aware of over 5,000 victims who have collectively paid over $26.5 million as a result of the scam.

Just this year, the IRS has seen a 400 percent increase in phishing schemes.

Scammers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. They may use the victim’s name, address and other personal information to make the call sound official.

Emails are designed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including tax software companies. The phishing schemes can ask taxpayers about a wide range of topics. E-mails can seek information related to refunds, filing status, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying PIN information.

Variations of these scams can be seen via text messages, and the communications are being reported in every section of the country.

When people click on these email links, they are taken to sites designed to imitate an official-looking website, such as IRS.gov. The sites ask for Social Security numbers and other personal information, which could be used to help file false tax returns. The sites also may carry malware, which can infect people's computers and allow criminals to access your files or track your keystrokes to gain information.

Here are some things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam. 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 several bills.
  • Call or email you to verify your identity by asking for personal and financial information.
  • 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 e-mail.

  • Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.



If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money or to verify your identity, here’s what you should do:

1. If you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason
to think that you do:

  • Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
  • Contact TIGTA (The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.
  • Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.




2. If you know you owe, or think you may owe tax,
call the IRS at 800-829-1040.


Payroll and human resources professionals should be aware of an 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.

A bogus email asks tax professionals to update their IRS e-services portal information and Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs). The links that are provided in the bogus email to access IRS e-services appear to be a phishing scheme designed to capture your username and password. This email was not generated by the IRS e-services program. Disregard this email and do not click on the links provided.

Another new email phishing scam that has been reported lately concerns emails that appear to be from the IRS and include a link to a bogus web site intended to mirror the official IRS web site. These emails contain the direction “you are to update your IRS e-file immediately.” The emails mention USA.gov and IRSgov (without a dot between "IRS" and “gov”).


All taxpayers should guard against all sorts of con games that continually change. The IRS, the states and the tax industry came together in 2015 and launched a public awareness campaign called “Taxes. Security. Together.” to help educate taxpayers about the need to maintain security online and to recognize and avoid phishing and other schemes.

So, to sum it up, nobody is excused and everybody is a target for these scammers. The only thing to do is stay alert and up-to-date with any new development even if just by reading our weekly newsletters.
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