| Tax season is in full swing. So are the tax scams | | |  | WED, FEB 24, 2021 | | | | Tax season is also scam season.
That message hit home when I discovered the "IRS" had issued an arrest warrant "on my name." At least that was the message left for me one morning.
This was the exact message: "Hello, this call is an official note from IRS, the Internal Revenue Service. The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filling [sic] a lawsuit on your name because you have tried to do a fraud with the IRS and we are taking illegal [sic] action and we are issuing a legal arrest warrant on your name. To get more information regarding this case file, just call us back on our department number, 708-432-8161."
I decided to play along, knowing I would never give these scammers any information. So, I called back and was connected to an "IRS" rep. He began to discuss my "case file" so he could help me avoid a lien being placed on my assets. I asked how he could know my case file since he never asked my name and had no idea whom he was talking to.
Without hesitation, he then asked me for my Social Security number so he could verify it with the one in my "case file." I then questioned how the IRS can put a lien on my assets and demand that I pay taxes without giving me the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say I owe. I asked him for his name and his IRS identification number. I was disconnected.
It's evident that tax season is one of the busiest times of the year for scammers. You might find it a bit mind-boggling that people are actually falling for scams. Well, don't be. Despite all the warnings and news coverage, taxpayers are taking the bait and being scammed out of significant amounts of money each year, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
In fact, more than 2.4 million Americans have been targeted by scammers impersonating IRS officials and more than 14,700 taxpayers have lost more than $72.8 million since 2013, according to the agency.
So, while this may seem obvious, here goes: Never give out personal financial information — such as Social Security numbers or credit card and bank account numbers and passwords — to anyone who contacts you claiming to be from the IRS.
For more key stuff like this, please follow me on Twitter @jimpavia and check out CNBC's Financial Advisor Hub and CNBC + Acorns Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow. | | Substack vertigo | | "Everything going on in the world right now is just one big trade – an implicit bet that current cashflows will not matter to investors and the risk-free rate has vanished to zero forever ..." | | | |
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