BBB Tip of the Week: Scam Tracker and Tax Collection Scams

When you visit the BBB Scam Tracker at www.bbb.org/scamtracker, you will see over a hundred scams reported in the Spokane area over the past year.

People have reported scams related to government grants, sweepstakes and lotteries, housing rental, employment from home, debt collection, tech support and phishing. The scam trending now, and most likely to continue for the next couple of months, is the tax collection scam.

The most well known is the IRS impersonator phone call scam. Con artists call, pretending to be from the IRS. They demand immediate payment. If the target doesn’t agree to immediately get them the funds on a pre-loaded debit card or by wire transfer, the con artist usually threatens arrest, wage garnishment or suspension of a driver’s license or a business license. And these scammers often use abusive, insulting and hostile language.

In some cases the caller wants the target to reveal private information, such as their Social Security number or bank account number. So the con artist may tell the target that they are getting a refund on their taxes as enticement.

In a new email phishing scam, scammers are sending emails asking people to update their IRS e-file account information. But the link in the email is for a bogus website made to look like an IRS website. IRS doesn’t initiate contact through email. So you should forward scam emails like this to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov and then delete them.

Better Business Bureau shares the following from the IRS, in order to help you spot a tax collection scam:

The IRS will never call to demand immediate payment nor about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.

The IRS will never demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.

The IRS will never require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.

The IRS will never ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

The IRS will never threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you’ve been targeted by a tax scam, you can file a complaint with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at www.tigta.gov. You can also report scam attempts at www.bbb.org/scamtracker or by calling (509) 455-4200.

Erin T. Dodge, BBB editor