Figuring they can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, a few IRS crank yankers have switched up their MO:
Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers, but now the IRS is receiving new reports of scammers calling under the guise of verifying tax return information over the phone.
The latest variation being seen in the last few weeks tries to play off the current tax season. Scam artists call saying they have your tax return, and they just need to verify a few details to process your return. The scam tries to get you to give up personal information such as a Social Security number or personal financial information, such as bank numbers or credit cards.
“These schemes continue to adapt and evolve in an attempt to catch people off guard just as they are preparing their tax returns,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Don’t be fooled. The IRS won’t be calling you out of the blue asking you to verify your personal tax information or aggressively threatening you to make an immediate payment.”
If your client base consists of taxpayers who might be gullible or vulnerable to this sort of thing, get your superhero cape out of the closet, get on the horn and make sure they know what's what. But only if you're good on the phone and not easily fooled yourself.
[IRS]
