Criminals masquerading as Internal Revenue Service agents have bilked more than $1 million from thousands of taxpayers in the largest such phone scam the IRS has seen, the agency's watchdog said Thursday.
J. Russell George, Treasury inspector general for tax administration, said more than 20,000 taxpayers have been targeted by bogus tax agents who claim victims owe taxes and demand they pay with a prepaid debit card or by wire transfer.
The thieves tell victims they could be arrested, deported or lose their business or driver's license if they refuse, George said in a news release, the latest in the agency's year-long awareness campaign.
The thieves tell victims they could be arrested, deported or lose their business or driver's license if they refuse, George said in a news release, the latest in the agency's year-long awareness campaign.
Taxpayers who owe are generally contacted first by mail, and bona fide IRS agents never insist on payment by debit card or wire transfer, and they don't ask for credit card numbers over the phone.
The agency began warning last March of a "dirty dozen" tax scams, including the one involving fake agents calling taxpayers. Complaints, mostly from immigrants, began coming into the inspector general's hotline in August and has expanded since then. Residents of nearly every state were targeted, George said.Read the rest of the story HERE.
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