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The
Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers about a new scam targeting
potential recipients of the Advance Child Tax Credit. The IRS has seen
isolated instances of this new scheme. A taxpayer receives a telephone
call from a person who promises to speed up the payment of the Advance
Child Tax Credit checks. The catch is the taxpayer must agree to a $39.99
charge to a credit card.
The
IRS reminds taxpayers that no person or organization can "speed
up" the payment of tax benefits. In reality, taxpayers do not have to
take any action to get the new benefit, which features an advance payment
for up to $400 per qualifying child. The Treasury Department and IRS will
perform all the calculations and automatically mail a notice and a check
to each eligible taxpayer, beginning the week of July 25.
Under
the new scam, the IRS is seeing the continuation of a trend that emerged
earlier this year when the families of those serving in the Armed Forces
were targeted. In both of these schemes, scam artists use current events
to prey on unsuspecting victims. The scams also feature callers seeking
credit card information to get taxpayers to pay for special benefits.
If
the taxpayer agrees to the charge and provides a credit card number or
other sensitive personal information, she could find a much larger charge
to her account. By the time the taxpayer realizes something is wrong, the
scam operator is long gone, possibly victimizing another taxpayer.
If
you encounter this latest tax scam or suspect tax fraud or abuse in some
other situation, report it to your nearest Internal Revenue Service
office. When in doubt, seek help from the IRS or a tax professional. You
can call the IRS tax fraud hotline at 1-800-829-0433.
Additional
information on tax scams may be found on the IRS Web site, IRS.gov. Go to
The Newsroom page and then click on the "Scams/Consumer Alerts"
link under the Topics sidebar. |
