AVOID COVID-19 RELATED SCAMS

Dear Friends,

As we continue to work from home, we must stay vigilant against schemes, scams and avoid becoming a victim of fraud. With increased activity from the federal government, banks, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), crooks are impersonating official agencies and personnel either by phone, emails, texts, and in person to steal people's time and money. 

Here are some important tips for taxpayers to keep in mind to avoid scams.

How the IRS initiates contact
The IRS initiates most contacts with taxpayers through regular mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. However, there are special circumstances in which the IRS will call or come to a home or business, such as:

• When a taxpayer has an overdue tax bill;
  
  
• To secure a delinquent tax return or a delinquent employment tax payment, or;
  
  
• To tour a business, for example, as part of an audit or during criminal investigations.

Even then, taxpayers will generally first receive a letter or sometimes more than one letter, often called notices, from the IRS in the mail.

Avoid scams

Criminals impersonate government employees like the IRS and call taxpayers in aggressive and sophisticated ways. Imposters claim to be IRS employees and sound very convincing. They use fake names and phony IRS identification badge numbers. They’re demanding and threatening – and do not reflect how the IRS handles enforcement matters.

Note that the IRS does not: 

• Demand that people use a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer;
  
  
• Ask for debit or credit card numbers over the phone;
  
  
• Demand immediate tax payment; 
  
  
• Threaten to bring in local police, immigration officers or other law enforcement agencies to arrest people for not paying;
  
  
• The IRS also cannot revoke a license or immigration status. 

Avoid email, phishing and malware schemes

Scammers send emails that trick businesses and taxpayers into thinking the messages are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry. As part of phishing schemes, scammers sometimes ask taxpayers about a wide-range of topics, such as refunds, filing status, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying personal identification numbers.

The IRS does not use email, text messages or social media to discuss tax debts or refunds with taxpayers.

Normal correspondence begins with a letter in the mail and taxpayers can appeal or question what they owe. All taxpayers are advised to know their rights as a taxpayer.

How to report COVID-19 or tax-related scams

Taxpayers can use these options to report phone, email and other impersonation scams:

• Report impersonation scams to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. on the “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” webpage.

• Report phone scams to the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant. Add "IRS Telephone Scam" in the notes.

• Report an unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS or an IRS-related system like the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System to the IRS at [email protected].

• If you receive calls, emails, or other communications claiming to be from the Treasury Department and offering COVID-19 related grants or stimulus payments in exchange for personal financial information, or an advance fee, or charge of any kind, including the purchase of gift cards, please do not respond.  These are scams.  Please contact the FBI at www.ic3.gov so that the scammers can be tracked and stopped.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding the federal government or any outreach that may have been done on their behalf, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (888) 217-0261 or visit Gonzalez.House.Gov/Contact. 

As always, it is an honor to serve the people of the 15th District of Texas during these trying times. 

Sincerely,

Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress