One of the most reliable indicators of a phone scam is that it claims to come from an authority of some sort: your bank, your credit card company, maybe even the police. The goal is to scare you enough to respond by doing what you\u2019re told instead of taking a moment to think, \u201cHey, wait a minute\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calls claiming to come from the government, and especially from the IRS, can be incredibly intimidating. This raises an important question: Does the IRS call you in real life? Well, yes, they do, but in practice, it\u2019s more of a \u201cyes, but\u2026\u201d: The agency does indeed reach out by phone, but only in specific circumstances. Here\u2019s how to tell the difference between a scammer and the real thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are any number of variations on the theme, but scammers claiming to be from the IRS are after the same two things as any other scammer: your money or your personal information (both, if they\u2019re really ambitious). That goal dictates how they approach the call. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they\u2019re after money, the story will be some version of \u201cyou owe money to the IRS, and if you don\u2019t pay up RIGHT THIS MINUTE, we\u2019re coming after you with the full force of the law.\u201d If they\u2019re after your personal information (a phishing attack), the angle might be that you\u2019re entitled to an unexpected refund, or more often that \u201cthere\u2019s a problem with your account\u201d or (ironically) \u201cwe believe you\u2019ve been the victim of fraud.\u201d Whichever ploy they choose, they\u2019ll need to verify your personal information to fix it or send you the funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some versions of these scam calls are more creative and seize topical opportunities to give their calls extra plausibility. In 2021, for example, callers sometimes claimed<\/a> they were trying to straighten out a problem with your federal Economic Impact Payments (aka \u201cstimulus checks\u201d). Some claim to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service<\/a> (TAS), a department within the IRS that actually does exist to help taxpayers resolve their issues with the agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To put fake IRS calls into perspective and learn how to identify them before you get hooked, it\u2019s instructive to do a compare-and-contrast with legitimate IRS phone calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To begin with, the likelihood of a genuine IRS phone call arriving like a bolt from the blue is just about nil. While the agency\u2019s representatives can and do reach out by telephone, it\u2019s almost invariably as a follow-up. If you actually owe the IRS money, for example (or at least, if they have reason to think you do), you\u2019ll get a letter first explaining the situation and giving you<\/em> the opportunity to reach out to them<\/em> to make your case or make things right. In the case of the TAS, you\u2019ll only hear from them if you\u2019ve initiated contact and requested their assistance. Either way, it won\u2019t be a surprise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More importantly, you should know there are several things you can expect a genuine IRS caller<\/a> not<\/em> to do: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The scammer is trying to create enough urgency to set the hook, whether by appealing to your greed or (more likely) your fear. If you\u2019re in a panic over your supposed \u201ctax problem,\u201d you won\u2019t be thinking clearly enough to spot the implausibilities until it\u2019s too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you receive what you believe to be a scam call, your first response should be the obvious one: Just hang up. You should also report the call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)<\/a> or by email<\/a> to the IRS itself (put \u201cIRS Phone Scam\u201d in the subject line so it\u2019ll be handled properly). The more information you can provide, the better: The number that showed on your caller ID, the number you were given to call back, the actual story you were told, and the date and time are all useful to the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve already fallen for an IRS phone scam, you\u2019ll have more work to do. Your first step, if you don\u2019t already have an online IRS account, is to create one. That way, you can see your tax information at any time and monitor it for changes. If you see any signs of tax-related identity theft<\/a>, you should immediately complete an Identity Theft Affidavit<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You should also request an Identity Protection PIN<\/a>, which changes every tax year and helps secure your account<\/a> against scammers. You\u2019ll need to prove your identity to the IRS, which will take a bit of time and effort, but once you have a PIN, it becomes exceedingly difficult for anyone else to file or claim benefits under your name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While you\u2019re bringing the IRS up to speed, there are other proactive steps you should take to protect yourself from the repercussions of the scam call. First and foremost, reach out to the \u201cbig three\u201d credit-reporting agencies to let them know you\u2019ve been compromised and request a copy of your credit report. You should also place a fraud alert or credit freeze<\/a>, which will make it harder for scammers to misuse your personal information now that they\u2019ve got it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You should also report the incident to the FTC\u2019s Report Fraud<\/a> website (if scammers took your money) or IdentityTheft.gov<\/a> (if they got your personal information). Those sites will help you create a recovery plan to minimize the impact of the scam. You might also report the incident to local law enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Spokeo can have a role to play too. If you receive one of these calls, look up the incoming number using Spokeo\u2019s Reverse Phone Lookup<\/a> tool. If the number isn\u2019t associated with the IRS, you\u2019ve got a scammer. Unfortunately, scammers can spoof a legitimate IRS number<\/a>, so that\u2019s not conclusive, but if a lot of scam calls have purportedly come from that number in recent weeks, that will show as part of Spokeo\u2019s Phone Reputation Score. Again, it\u2019s not conclusive, but scam complaints against a legitimate IRS number constitute a pretty big red flag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the caller (or message) gives you a number to call back, that\u2019s a little more useful. A Spokeo search on that number is unlikely to reveal an IRS listing. It may not give you the scammer\u2019s actual name, but it will yield location and carrier information that can help law enforcement agencies find the guilty party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, if you\u2019ve given your personal information to a scammer, you might want to invest in identity protection through Spokeo Protect<\/a>. You\u2019ll get an alert when your key pieces of personal information are offered up for sale on the Dark Web, and a suite of other features including protection against financial loss, 24\/7 customer support and the help of skilled (US-based) case managers to help you through the recovery process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately your best defense against IRS scams \u2014 or any scams, really \u2014 is to cultivate a healthy and, above all, educated skepticism about incoming calls, texts and emails. The IRS does its best to help with identity-theft brochures<\/a>, its Identity Theft Central<\/a> website for consumers and its annual \u201cDirty Dozen\u201d reports<\/a> on the year\u2019s most troublesome and widespread scams. They\u2019re all essential reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few other sources are also noteworthy, including the AARP\u2019s Scams & Fraud<\/a> page, the FTC\u2019s Scams<\/a> page, the Better Business Bureau\u2019s \u201cScam Tracker\u201d<\/a> page and \u2014 of course \u2014 this very blog.\u00a0 Life contains few guarantees, but staying up to date on the current scams is one of the best ways to ensure that you never fall victim to a bogus IRS call or any other attempted fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most reliable indicators of a phone scam is that it claims to come from an authority of some sort: your bank, your credit card company, maybe even…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":25556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[810,614],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-identity","category-safety"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Is a Call From the IRS Legitimate? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What To Do About IRS Scam Calls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Other Corrective Steps You Can (or Should) Take<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Spokeo and IRS Scam Calls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Vigilance Is the Best Defense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sources<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n