Watch: Experts Warn of Scams During Tax Season
Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — Tax season is just beginning but scammers are not wasting any time. They’re already hard at work finding ways to get their hands on your money.
Experts are warning about multiple different scams that typically spike during tax season.
Juliana with the Department of Consumer Affairs says, “The consumer will get a call from someone representing the IRS and it will say that they’re going to sue you or arrest you or even deport you if you don’t pay back taxes.”
The IRS has received more than 700,000 reports of these phone scams since October 2013, resulting in $23 million in consumer losses nationwide.
Harris explains, “It’s one of those scams that just has not gone away this year and it’s actually been pretty prevalent since 2013.”
This isn’t the only method con artists are using to collect cash. Tax identity theft is another big business for impostors.
Meghann Simpson with H&R Block tells ABC Columbia, “A social security number and they will use a fraudulent W-2 it will file a tax return and someone’s information has now been compromised.”
In 2013, the IRS identified nearly 2 million potential fraudulent refunds and actually paid out more than $5 billion in fraudulent returns.
Consumer affairs and tax experts say knowing warning signs will help avoid falling victim.
“IRS never goes to your house they never just give you a phone call it’s always through letters,” says Simpson.
While Harris says,”Any time someone is asking for a wire transfer or a prepaid debit card in order to pay something, that’s a red flag that it’s a scam.”
