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Three things in life are certain: Death, taxes and tax scams.
From text messages claiming to be from the IRS to phone messages threatening you with arrest for taxes you allegedly owe, fraudsters are on the hunt for new victims.
Last year, taxpayers lost more than $4 million to scammers pretending to be the IRS, with a median loss per complaint of $515, according to reports made to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
But this is only the amount reported lost; the actual total may be much higher.
Tax scam calls ramp up in the month prior to tax day, and scammers will make more than 2 billion calls in the week before Tax Day, according to data from First Orion, a communications firm that offers branded caller identification for businesses.
Why Are We Susceptible to Tax Scams?
Most of us are unfamiliar with the tax code, explains Kent Welch, chief data officer at First Orion, which makes us worried we’re going to do something wrong when we submit our annual income tax return. “And so now when everybody’s vulnerable, those scammers prey on that,” he says.
In a March survey, the company found that 40% of consumers would expect the IRS to email them if there was an issue with their tax refund or payment amount, and 30% of consumers would expect the IRS to call.
But the IRS primarily communicates…
