One of the worst things to get in the mail is an IRS notice or even worse, a call from an IRS agent.  Don't you just cringe and have a great rush of fear when something like that happens to you?  I certainly find that it is not something that gives me a warm and cozy feeling.

You need to be aware that the IRS has seen a recent increase in phone scams all across the country.  The callers are pretending to be IRS agents with hopes of stealing your money and/or your identity in the process.

The caller may tell you that you owe money or that you are entitled to a huge refund.  The person may threaten you by telling you that you will be arrested, lose your driver's license, and even arrange a phony follow-up call to you from someone who pretends to be from your local police department or state motor vehicle department to really scare you.

What should you look out for to determine if you, too, have been scammed?  Some of the following things may be characteristic of your call:

• Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers.  They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves to you.
• Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of your Social Security Number
• Scammers "spoof" or imitate the IRS toll-free number on your caller ID to make it appear that it's the IRS calling.
• Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS e-mails to you to support their bogus calls,
• You may hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.

Remember, the IRS generally contacts you by mail first, and they do not demand payment by debit card, credit card, or wire transfer.

Another scam has targeted recent immigrants, telling them that the money they owe must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer.  The caller then threatens arrest, deportation, and suspension of your driver's license.  The caller can become hostile and insulting to you.

So, what should you do if this happens to you?

If you know or think you owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040.  The employees there can help you with any payment issue.

If you know you don't owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (e.g., you have not received any bill or the caller makes some bogus threats), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.

If you have been targeted by these scams, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their "FTC Complaint Assistant" at FTC.gov.  Make sure you add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.

Identity theft continues to be on the rise.  So, you must be vigilant to make sure that it doesn't happen to you.

As usual, if you wish to call the office to discuss a particular circumstance, please do not hesitate to call on 914-997-7724.