US Dept of Treasury Warns of Suspicious Calls & Tax Scams

With tax preparation season upon us, the Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers of an aggressive and sophisticated scam being perpetrated by con artists posing as IRS agents.Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), said that since October 2013, there had been nearly 900,000 scam calls reported, and roughly $26.5 million was lost by about 5,000 victims.

The scammers typically call on the telephone and make aggressive threats, saying that the victims owe back taxes and must pay immediately by wire transfer or pre-loaded debit card, or law enforcement officers will come to their residence to take them away in handcuffs. The IRS warns that these scammers can sound convincing when they call, reciting fake IRS badge numbers and seeming to know a lot of information about the person they are targeting...Click here to read more.