It’s tax season and the con artists are hard at work trying to scam you and separate you from your money.
“The IRS does not email, text, or call you. If the IRS needs to communicate with you because there's a problem with your taxes, they send you a letter -- snail mail, good old US mail. It's part of the government,” says Herb.
“They do not contact you any other way, and they don't ask you for instantaneous payments on the phone, or ‘you’ve got to pay us right now’ in any way, shape, or form, in any manner of currency. It's just not the way it works.”
“The only time the IRS may ever call you is if you're in the middle of a negotiation with them, and you've already had something ongoing, and they may call or email you. But never the first contact. The first contact from government agencies -- whether that's Medicare, Social Security, the Internal Revenue Service -- the initial contact is always via US mail. “
“If it comes in any other form of digital communication or the phone, it is a scam! Run away as fast as you can before they steal your money!”
Herb’s Final Tip in this digital world: “There's no undo button if you give somebody your so security number if you type in your bank account number. Whatever it is and push submit. It's gone. There's no getting it back. So you have to stop and think on the front end if you're not sure just put them on hold.”
Links to Consumers’ Checkbook articles from Herb:
· Fraud Alert: Customer Service Imposter Scams
· Fraud Alert: Phone Scams Involving Amazon Impersonators Are Skyrocketing
ABOUT HERB WEISBAUM: After 22 years and about 6,500 daily consumer tips, recently Herb hung up his headset for the last time and retired from Northwest Newsradio (KNWN). Thankfully, he’s still writing for Consumers’ Checkbook and hosting their bi-weekly Consumerpedia podcast. If you visit Herb’s ConsumerMan website, you can sign up for his free weekly newsletter and stay up to date on the latest consumer news.
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