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Fraud Tip of the Day - April 14

IRS Debt Collection Scams

Con artists are posing as the IRS in debt collection schemes designed to trick people into giving them their personal or financial information.

The IRS warns that as it begins collecting debts owed, taxpayers need to be aware of con artists that impersonate the IRS in the hope that can trick people into divulging their personal and financial information. These scams can occur over the phone, through email, in person and over the internet.

The IRS has a program that uses private sector debt collection agencies to contact some taxpayers regarding unpaid back taxes as part of. The IRS has taken several steps to alert taxpayers identify these collectors as legitimate and better identify the debt collection scams.

How the IRS Alerts Taxpayers:

Taxpayer notification. Taxpayers that are a part of this private debt collection program will be aware of their participation in this program before being contacted by a private debt collector. If you haven't received a notification from the IRS about this program, be skeptical of anyone who contacts you claiming to represent the IRS to collect debts on their behalf.
A letter from the IRS. The notification mentioned above will come in the form of a letter from the IRS. This letter indicates that its recipient is part of the IRS' private debt collection initiative. The letter will include the name of the debt collector each taxpayer will be contacted by.
A letter from the debt collection agency. Taxpayers that have been notified about their participation in the program will then receive a second letter from the debt collection agrency assigned to them. This letter is to inform taxpayers that they will soon be contacted by the agency regarding their unpaid taxes.
Checks are payable to the US Treasury. All checks sent will be payable to the US Treasury rather than an individual or business. The collection agency will let you know which address to use when you mail in your payments. Collection agencies working with the IRS will never ask you to send cash or a check made out to an individual.
Contact the IRS. If in doubt, check IRS.gov or call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for more information.

"Don't be fooled by scam artists claiming to be from the IRS," said Kevin M. Brown, IRS Commissioner of the Small Business / Self-Employed Division. "People selected for the private collection program will be notified in advance from the IRS. There are clear processes in place for this program, so don't fall victim to fraudsters who are constantly looking for new ways to trick people."

The IRS sees a variety of different scams on different issues. One recent example involves a bogus e-mail claiming to be from the IRS. In this "phishing" scheme, the scam artist's e-mail claims to be from the IRS, tells recipients that they are due a federal tax refund, and directs them to a web site that appears to be a genuine IRS site. The bogus sites contain forms or interactive Web pages similar to IRS forms or Web pages but which have been modified to request detailed personal and financial information from the e-mail recipients.

Taxpayers need to remember that the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts. If in doubt about someone claiming to be from the IRS or working on behalf of the IRS, call the agency's toll-free help line at 800-829-1040.