every year in the u.s. thousands of
taxpayers are hit by tax scams the
people behind these scams use fear and
surprise to go after your money and
personal info fortunately we know how
you can stay safe this tax season and
beyond one common scheme involves
scammers impersonating IRS employees
they may contact you by phone email or
text and pressure you into giving them
money or your personal info if you don't
immediately give them what they want
they'll threaten to have you arrested or
take away your tax refund if you get a
message like this it can seem scary and
urgent
thankfully you can avoid falling victim
to a scam by remembering how the real
IRS contacts people generally the IRS
will initiate contact with you through
the mail not email text fax or social
media if you get a phone call that
claims to come from the IRS take down
the caller's name badge number and
caller ID info then contact the IRS
directly to see if they're legitimate
remember that the IRS won't call you and
demand immediate payment be wary of any
call that seems urgent or pushy it's
best to file your taxes as early as
possible to prevent identity thieves
from filing a return in your name the
earlier you file the less chance of
thief has to claim your refund finally
avoid questionable tax preparers for
instance stay away from preparers who
take a percentage of your refund instead
of working for a flat fee also if you
find a preparer that promises you a
bigger refund than you deserve that
promise is probably too good to be true
if you ever have questions or concerns
about your taxes visit the IRS website
at WWF gov now that you know how to
avoid these scams you'll be better
prepared for tax season
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