As in every tax season, law enforcement officials have been watching a rising wave of scam attempts over the past few months. The crooks often pose as government agents, and the real officials are reminding filers to be vigilant.
In such cons, the callers and email writers pose as federal officials and try to persuade marks to wire a settlement on pain of arrest.
These communications are bunk, warned the FBI, and anyone getting such a call should hang up immediately and not reply to emails. Federal agencies do not call or email individuals and make threats to get them to send money, the agency said.
“Washington residents are receiving scam attempts right now, but next month it could be residents in a different state,” Ethan Via, supervisory special agent of the FBI’s white-collar crime squad, said in a news release. “The timing of this scam is more intentional than the targeting. The recent uptick in scams may coincide with the tax season. It presents an opportunity to impersonate IRS agents and is a time when individuals and households may be more cognizant of federal authority, possibly making them more sensitive to appeals to their law-abiding intentions.”
Grifters can be creative, offering specific agency information, or changing who they say is calling — the Treasury Department, FBI, IRS, U.S. Marshals Service — or tricking caller ID systems.
Scammers can spoof caller ID information to make incoming calls appear to come from federal agencies’ real phone numbers or from Washington, D.C.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said its office has received word of more than 1 million scam contacts since October 2013, all regarding callers posing as IRS, Treasury Department or other government officials.
The agency also said it’s aware of more than 5,500 victims who have paid about $29 million total to grifters posing as federal officials in that time.
The Internal Revenue Service said the number of reported phishing scams from IRS or a tax company fakers surged by 400 percent this year from the same time last year. The 1,389 scams reported as of mid-February added up to about half of the email scams reported for all of last year, the agency said.
Tax software companies reportedly have seen a marked spike in phishing scams from scammers sending authentic-looking emails with links designed to trick users into sharing account information.
According to the Department of Justice, crooks have been name-dropping FBI Director James Comey or the special agents in charge at local field offices.
The U.S. Marshals Service has received complaints showing thieves using specific officer names or badge numbers during attempted swindles.
To report impersonators for:
• The FBI: Contact the local FBI field office In Washington at 206-622-0460 and select option 1.
• The U.S. Marshals Office: Call the agency’s Washington field office at 206-370-8685.
• The IRS: Fill out the IRS impersonation scam form at the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s website, at 1.usa.gov/1ClYZbP, or call 800-366-4484.
The IRS won’t call about tax payments without sending a bill first. It also won’t demand payment without first giving filers a chance to ask questions or make an appeal.
Nor will it require a specific type of payment, ask for debit or credit card information, or threaten to call local law enforcement to make an arrest.
Those who do owe federal taxes, or think they might, should still hang up immediately, but they can call the IRS at 800-829-1040, where staff can help with payment questions.
Also, people can use the Federal Trade Commission’s online complaint tool at 1.usa.gov/1TR0tkF and add “IRS telephone scam” in the notes.
