Authorities have announced the arrest of IRS phone scammers. In the past week over a hundred scammers were arrested by authorities around the world for pretending to be IRS agents collecting individual tax liabilities. It turns out the liabilities were fabricated and the scam artists were simply calling everyone in the phone book. While the scam was well known within the tax world, the general population was unaware of it and lost hundreds of millions of dollars. After years of successful operations, the authorities finally made wide scale arrests and tried to shut this scam down. While this is a step in the right direction, there are many more copy cats out there still making the same calls. Anyone with a telephone is a potential victim and should be aware of the scam tactics as well as the legitimate tactics that the IRS uses to contact and collect tax debts. The IRS has well established procedures for collecting debts and they do not involve calling and demanding immediate payment at the threat of impending arrests. The agents do not use scare tactics and they always provide their identification, telephone number and badge number. Finally, if you owe the IRS or if you have not filed in many years, you will receive correspondence with a telephone number to call. If you are unsure whether you owe money or not simply call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. You will be on hold for awhile, but you will eventually speak to a legitimate revenue officer who can help. The scammers know just enough to sound very threatening and intimidating. If you are unsure whether you owe money or whether you should send them money, simply hang up and call the number above. Do not become a victim to this horrible scam!
