WASHINGTON—Criminals impersonating IRS officials were on the rise last year, as was tax-related identity theft, according to a new report.
The Federal Trade Commission disclosed that tax-related identity theft was the most common form of identity theft reported to the FTC in 2014, while the number of complaints from consumers about criminals impersonating IRS officials was nearly 24 times more than in 2013.
“We’ve seen an explosion of complaints about callers who claim to be IRS agents – but are not,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “IRS employees won’t call out of the blue and threaten to have you arrested or demand specific methods of payment.”
The FTC statistics come from the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, which accounts for complaints received by the FTC and other federal, state and local law enforcement and consumer protection agencies.
Last year marked the fifth consecutive year in which tax-related identity theft topped the list of identity theft complaints, with tax identity theft accounting for nearly one-third of all identity theft complaints to the FTC.
IRS impersonation scams typically consist of an individual contacting a consumer by phone, claiming that they are an IRS agent and that the consumer owes the IRS money, the FTC explained in a release. “The callers suggest to consumers that they pay by wiring money or loading money on a prepaid debit card. The callers often threaten arrest or legal action, and their calls may appear to originate from Washington, D.C., phone numbers; scammers may even know a consumer’s full or partial Social Security number, lending credibility to the scam.”
Related