5. Tax Debt Scam
This scam preys on every taxpayer’s fear of being audited. Somebody calls you claiming to be with the IRS.
The fake “agent” tells you that you owe a large sum of money and must pay immediately by credit card or wire transfer.
If you refuse, that’s when the claws come out. They’ll warn you that, if you don’t pay, you’ll either be arrested or lose your driver’s license.
One reason this scam is so dangerous is that the callers are so good at the details.
For one thing, they’ll gladly provide you with a name and badge number (both fake, of course) without being asked. For another, they spoof an IRS caller ID so that the call appears to be legitimate. Sometimes they’ll give you the last four digits of your Social Security number for verification.
And if those tactics don’t work and you still refuse to pay, you’ll soon get a follow-up call that appears to be from the local police, ramping up the threat of arrest.
Fighting back against this one is simple. The IRS is not going to call and demand that you pay over the phone. If you know you do owe money and the call makes you nervous, hang up and call the IRS at a number you look up yourself.