Is it Really the IRS or is it a Scammer? Here’s How You’ll Know For Sure

It’s tax season. While that usually means it’s time to file our taxes and wait for our refunds, scammers are afoot and are taking advantage of hardworking tax payers through various aggressive tactics.

            One of their most infamous tactics? A scammer will pretend to be an IRS agent and call you on the phone, threatening legal action if you don’t pay them thousands of dollars right now. It’s suspected that such scams have cost Americans millions of dollars over the past few years. These hustlers prey on already elevated fears and concerns people have about the IRS, taking full advantage of the stress associated with tax season. But you don’t have to fall for their trap.

            If you receive a call like this, the first step you should take is to remain calm. Con artists who pretend to be IRS agents are counting on you to freak out and act irrationally. It’s normal to be concerned about being audited. Almost every tax payer has had an experience with being audited and these con artists play off of these fears.

            One clever thing scammers might do is use a Caller ID or give you an address that looks or sounds like it might belong to the IRS. Don’t rely on information they’ve given you to decide whether or not a supposed IRS agent is someone you can trust. There’s one important thing you need to keep in mind: The IRS will never ask for money over the phone. If you own money on your taxes, the IRS will send you a bill through the mail first and will not threaten and harass you in order to demand you pay them immediately.

            You can always call the IRS to ask them whether or not you owe any money. But they won’t demand you pay them nor will they make bizarre commands, as many people have reported, such as asking you to pay only with a prepaid credit card or by giving your bank account information over the phone.

            The easiest thing you can do if you’re confronted with one of these calls is to simply hang up and go about your day.

            But you can do better and help put an end to scammers like these.

            The first thing you’ll want to do is conduct a reverse cell phone lookup. You might be asking “Well, that sounds great but how do I reverse lookup a cell phone number?” The process is simple. With the help of websites like Hero or White Pages, you can enter any phone number in and receive detailed information about where that call is coming from. In some cases, you may be able to retrieve the true address that the supposed IRS call is coming from.

            Once you’ve conduced a cell phone reverse lookup, you can take the information you’ve pulled up and report the scammers to an organization like the FTC or the TIGTA. Take the number they called you from and any information you were able to find on their address in order to fill out a detailed report. That way, the FTC or the TIGTA can move to shut down scammers like these and help put an end to a con that’s fleeced millions of American taxpayers out of their own money.

            Remember, don’t let con artists get the best of you. Be smart, stay calm, and be sure to help report known scammers so they can’t mislead fellow taxpayers and cheat them out of their rightfully earned money.