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Income Tax Service
5200 W Market St
Greensboro, NC 27409
336-852-9505
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Terry Hough
President
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ElectroFile Income Tax Service Newsletters
July 05, 2016
Be Alert for Tax Scams
Tax scammers work year-round; they don’t take the summer off. Our consultants
here at Electrofile urge you to stay vigilant to protect yourself against calls
from scammers
impersonating the IRS. Here are several tips to help you avoid being a victim:
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Scams use scare tactics.
These aggressive and sophisticated scammers try to scare people into making an
immediate payment. They make threats, often threaten arrest or deportation, or
they say they’ll take away your driver’s or professional license if you don’t
pay. They may also leave
urgent callback requests, sometimes through
robo-calls. Emails will often contain a fake IRS document with a phone number
or an email address for you to reply.
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Scams spoof caller ID.
Scammers often alter Caller ID to make it look like the IRS or another agency
is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear
legitimate. They may use online resources to get your name, address and other details about
your life to make the call sound official.
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Scams use phishing email and regular mail.
Scammers copy official IRS letterhead to use in email or regular mail they
send to victims. In another new variation, schemers provide an actual IRS
address where they tell the victim to mail a receipt for the payment they make.
This makes the scheme look official.
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Scams cost victims over $38 million.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, has received
reports of more than one million contacts since October 2013. TIGTA is also
aware of more than 6,700 victims who have collectively reported over $38
million in financial losses as a result of tax scams.
The real IRS will not:
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call you about your tax bill without first sending you a bill
in the mail,
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demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount
that you owe,
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require that you pay your taxes a certain way, (For example, they will not
require that you pay with a prepaid debit card or any specific type of tender.)
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ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone,
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threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying,
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threaten you with a lawsuit.
If you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you do:
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Do not provide any information to the caller. Hang up immediately.
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You may contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Use
TIGTA’s IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting web page to report the incident.
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You should also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the FTC
Complaint Assistant on FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" in the notes.
If you know you owe, or think you may owe taxes call ElectroFile Income Tax
Service at 336-852-9505. Our employees can help you determine if you do owe taxes.
The official IRS website, IRS.gov, offers tax help and info on various topics including common tax scams, taxpayer rights
and more.
IRS YouTube Videos: