East Texas Residents Targeted by IRS Phone Scam

TYLER – People around the country are falling victim to a phone scam by scammers pretending to be IRS agents, according to information from the Better Business Bureau Serving Central East Texas. The callers seem to be targeting East Texas residents, as BBB received numerous calls Tuesday morning. The impersonators are calling up their targets, demanding that they pay taxes they don’t even owe, by either loading money on a prepaid card or sending it via a wire transfer. Those who refuse to pay immediately are then threatened by the “IRS agents.” BBB officials say the threats include jail time, deportation, or the suspension of the victim’s business or driver’s license.

In order to convince people that they are real IRS agents, officials say the scammers use several tricks including a program to make the IRS’s toll-free number appear on the caller ID, call center background noise, and false agent badge numbers. If the target is not already convinced, several callers are able to report the last four digits of the person’s Social Security number. Mechele Agbayani Mills, President and CEO of the BBB Serving Central East Texas, urges you not to be pressured, noting that the callers are using scare tactics to try and catch you off guard.

Follow these tips in order to protect yourself from this IRS scam and others like it:
• Don’t give out your financial information over the phone. The real IRS will not ask for financial information over the phone. All initial contact from the IRS will be through direct mail.
• Hang up the phone. Never trust callers who use threats and hostility to bully their targets into doing what they want. This is a tactic many scammers use.
• If you receive an email, delete it. The IRS will not attempt to contact you through email. If you receive an email from someone claiming to be the IRS, then it is probably a scam. Emails that scammers send may include computer viruses that could harm your computer or access personal information.
• Report the incident. If you are a victim of this scam, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1-800-366-4484 or online at treasury.gov.

Go to http://www.bbb.org for more information on how to be a savvy consumer. To report fraudulent activity or unscrupulous business practices, please call the BBB Hotline: (903) 581-8373.