IRS Call Scam

Just when we thought we could leave scams like the 'One Ring Scam' on the back burner, a new scam seems to be attacking U.S. taxpayers; this time, they are pretending to be the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The USA Today posted a recent article, quoting the IRS's watchdog saying,

How It Happens:
The scammers call taxpayers, and tell the victims they could be arrested, deported or lose their business or driver's license if they refuse to give money.

Who is Affected?
According the USA Today's interview with J. Russell George, Treasury inspector general for tax administration, more than 20,000 taxpayers have been targeted by this IRS scam.

How to Protect Yourself with Truecaller:
Many scammers today are targeting cell phones, and it is up to us to protect our cell phones with the correct technology. Truecaller helps identify and block over 4 million spam calls a day. Our Truecaller users help each other by marking spam or fraud calls they have identified, so another user can be protected immediately. Each day, members of the Truecaller Community adds 75,000 new spam numbers to Truecaller's Top Spammers List to keep it constantly updated.

Truecaller is available for free on Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Symbian s60 and Series 40, and can be downloaded from your app store.

How to Identify this scam:
The IRS does not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, and never insists on payments by wire transfer or debit card. Taxpayers who owe are generally contacted first by mail. More information on tax scams from the IRS can be found here.