Stockbyte/ThinkstockIt’s officially tax season. That means there’s a chance you’ll hear from someone who sounds threatening.
“It might be an email, a phone call from someone pretending to be from the IRS or even pretending to be from law enforcement” demanding immediate payment, maybe with a credit card “or even in some cases they will ask you to pay with a gift card,” warns ABC News Chief Business and Economics Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis. “This is a scam.”
Her advice? Hang up.
If the IRS needs to get in touch with you about something, it will use old-fashioned snail mail.
“You never ever, ever want to give out any kind of credit card information over the phone. You never are going to be threatened over the phone by the IRS that you are going to go to jail if you don’t pay right away,” explains Jarvis.
That doesn’t mean you can’t call the IRS if you have a question about something. And remember: The real IRS always is happy to take a check.
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