Look Out For IRS Fraud

Scam artists work hard in creating some sort of scam or fraud wherever possible. And to them, creating an IRS fraud is a great means of gaining access to the personal and private information of innocent people. These scam artists tend to pose in as one form or the other as an agent from the IRS in a bid to extract personal information like social security numbers and such from you.

As everyone is terrified by the IRS, and hate being contacted by the agency, they do anything to resolve issues raised by an IRS agent. They will be more than willing to send them copies of credit card settlements and even to divulge crucial financial information over the phone. This provides the perfect scenario to scam artists as their goal lies in getting as much private information from you as possible.

With the private information they receive from you, they open credit card accounts and so on. This is called phishing, and is used for the purpose of identity theft. This is an IRS fraud that can occur via any communication method. With the advent of the computer, spam emails are the most common means of pulling off an IRS fraud.

One recent IRS fraud involved scam artists sending spam emails to taxpayers stating that they were eligible for tax refunds. As these emails were sent from IRS email accounts with IRS letters in the address, taxpayers believed them and visited the IRS site. They had to fill up a form to claim a refund; however with the email address and website being fake, the taxpayers did not receive any refund. In return, the scam artists collected numerous social security numbers, credit card information, etc to use for their benefit.

Then there was another classic IRS fraud where scam artists sent bogus IRS letters and Form W-8BEN requesting all non-residents to provide their personal information and bank account numbers, passport numbers, etc. Unfortunately, the recipients never realized that this form is actually issued by banks, and not the IRS for obtaining information. They fell for this scam, and had their identities stolen.

There are some tips to follow to identify fake and genuine IRS communication. The main point to remember is that IRS never sends emails to their taxpayers. If you receive any such communication, you should either delete it or send it to the IRS so that they can take action against it.

In case you do receive some communication from the IRS, you have to call the agency for verification. If you get phone communications from scam artists, ask for their names, and verify by calling back at the IRS. Remember that the IRS never asks taxpayers for passwords or pin numbers as they can seize your bank account without any of this information.

Useful Tax Resources