(CNN) - According to the IRS thousands of people have been scammed out of millions of dollars because of tricky tax scams,and with the tax deadline looming, scammers aren't letting up.
One scam is a robotic voice that uses incorrect English, which calls threatening consumers, telling them that they have a debt with the IRS and will be taken under custody by local authorities.
This caller claims to be from the IRS, but it's a scam.
Another scheme scammers are using is one in which thieves file a fraudulent return, with your information, and the refund goes into your bank account.
Then someone calls from a third-party debt collection agency saying that, the person has received an erroneous tax refund and they are calling on behalf of the IRS to reclaim the refund.
Experts say a lot of people are falling for it because the scammers can tell them how much the refund was and that it was erroneous.
The consumer knows they did not deserve this refund, so they are believing the scheme.
Then when the government spots the fraud, the consumer is then on the hook for the money.
On Tuesday, the IRS alerted consumers to a new email tax scam.
Beware of new “IRS Refunds” email scam, a tactic used by #cybercriminals to trick taxpayers & Tax Pros to phish data. https://t.co/VIwGwaA9Gd #TaxSecurit pic.twitter.com/aA1K4zieww
— IRS (@IRSnews) April 10, 2018
According to tax professionals, the IRS will never demand immediate payment or threaten to call police or immigration or ask for unusual payments, like gift cards or wire transfers.
Typically, the IRS will send a notice in the mail. They say they will not initially contact you through email, text, social media or the phone.
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