Reporting scams related to IRS
impersonation is made more accessible and faster through TIGTA, Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration. To help address the growing incidents
of tax or IRS scams the government has provided an easy to use online reporting
tool through TIGTA. The upcoming tax season is expected to cause a significant
increase in tax scam incidents for the year, making fast and efficient
reporting process is highly useful for both the scam victims and government
authorities. However, before you start reporting scams, you must first learn to
identify the tell-tale signs of an IRS scam. To give you an idea, here’s a list
of IRS scam indicators:
Indicators
of IRS Scams
●
Receiving an immediate tax payment demand via a
phone call. The IRS primarily sends notification on any tax obligation via
email, and then conducts a follow up by giving you a call. All official tax
payment demand is conducted in this order. So if you receive a call claiming
they’re from IRS (Internal Revenue Service) without any prior email
notification then chances are it’s a scam.
●
If you receive an immediate tax payment demand,
preventing you from inquiring or appealing your dues, then you’re probably
dealing with a scammer.
●
If you receive a tax settlement demand that
requires the use of specific payment channels such as a prepaid debit card or
cash payment via remittance center. These payment channels are commonly used by
scammers since there are no chargebacks or refunds with these payment options.
●
If you receive a call from someone posing as an
IRS representative, instructing you to disclose your credit or debit card
details for whatever reason.
●
If a supposed IRS representative threatens to
have you arrested over non-payment of your tax dues.
If you encounter any of these
indicators, then there is a high possibility that you are being targeted by a
scammer. To report this scam, you may use TIGTA’s IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting
tool.
●
Reporting scams through IRS Impersonation Scam
Reporting tool require you to answer the guide questions provided on the
form. These guide questions can help you
effectively detail the scam that you wish to report.
●
The form can be divided in three parts;
a.
First Part – Details About the Scam
Reporting scams
with this platform start with answering questions about how the scam that was
conducted. You need to disclose when you were scammed, whether you incurred
financial losses in the process, the mode of payment you used to pay the
scammer, the details you used to send the payment and the extent of personal
information that you disclosed to the scammer.
b.
Second Part- Details About the Scammer
This part of the
form contains questions about the scammer, the platform used by the scammer to
reach you, the title, name or company used by the scammer to identify himself,
the and the specific number/s or email address/es used by the scammer to
facilitate communication. The last section of this part is a text box with
500-character limit, which you can use to detail additional important information
about the scam and the scammer.
c.
Third Part –Details About You
The last part of
the form is for the person reporting scams. This part of the form requires you
to answer information about your name, location, contact details, date of birth
and social security number.
You will also be
required to create a 5-digit verification pin, which you must memorize. This is
to help secure the interest of victims reporting scams with TIGTA. You may
require a TIGTA representative to provide this pin in case they wish to
communicate with you regarding your report. You will also be required to
certify the report that you submitted by providing your digital signature. The
last section will be a security question designed to filter auto submission.
All the reports
submitted through TIGTA’s IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting form are then
investigated and coordinated with the proper authorities.
Reporting scams related to the IRS, may also be
reported through other government agencies. TIGTA is just one of the primary
agencies that are officially accepting IRS fraud related cases. 