Representatives with the Connecticut State Attorney’s Office, Revenue Services and Consumer Protection Departments, as well as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) all issued a joint statement on Monday, July 10, 2017. They are, once again, warning Connecticut residents to remain vigilant for phone calls in which the caller falsely states that they’re being made on behalf of a tax collection agency.
In the joint press release, the different government agencies attempted to remind Connecticut residents about how this ages-old phone scam is most often carried out. They emphasize that, more often than not, the scammer calls its victims and tells them that they have an outstanding debt owed to the IRS.
They ask for them to provide payment over the phone with their credit cards if they want to avoid the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) becoming involved. Because the victims in this case fear being arrested, they pay.
Also in the statement, the tax collection bodies highlight the actual methods and information they do request if they make contact with someone. They noted that they never contact their taxpayers via contact methods such as text, email or social media.
They also never use these communications platforms to request an individual’s financial information such as credit card, personal identification numbers (PINs) or banking account numbers. Also important is that they claim that they never request an individual’s passwords and other private information is never requested via these methods either.
Despite attempts to crack down on these types of tax-related scams in recent years, the Connecticut State Attorney’s Offices still continues to receive an estimated 500 monthly complaints from individuals that have been preyed upon.
They also note that tax collection scams don’t just happen during tax season either. Instead, they can happen any time. If you’ve been victimized by one of these types of tax scams, then a Danbury, Connecticut, tax law attorney may be able to help.
Source: HartfordBusiness.com, “CT, feds reissue tax-scam alert,” Gregory Seay, July 10, 2017