Northwest Iowa — There’s an old saying….”If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” According to the Internal Revenue Service, in recent years thousands of people have lost millions of dollars, along with their personal information, to tax scams and fake IRS communications.
According to the IRS, some of the most common scams include one in which aggressive con artists call potential victims, claiming to be from the IRS. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and that it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are threatened with arrest, deportation (in the case of recent immigrants), or suspension of a business license or driver’s license.
The IRS has issued several alerts about the fraufulent use of the IRS name or logo by scammers trying to gain access to cunsumers’ financial imformation in order to steal their identity and assets. The IRS says they have seen an approximate 400-percent surge in phishing and malware schemes during the 2016 tax season, as well as solicitation of W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals, including Quatro Composites, and Northwestern College, both of Orange City.
The IRS reminds you that they never call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method. Generally the IRS will mail you a bill if you owe any taxes. Likewise, the IRS will not threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying. Nor will they EVER ask for credit or debit card information over the phone. And, they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
For more information on tax-related scams, visit the Internal Revenue Service website by clicking here.
