We have been fielding calls from clients concerning phone calls from the IRS threatening them with prison if they don’t pay their outstanding tax obligations. Our own staff have also been recipients of these calls.
Please note that the IRS NEVER calls taxpayers – their first point of contact is by letter. That being said, we have received notices that these scammers are now sending out letters as well.
Please, PLEASE, before you respond to any letter or phone call, contact our office. Do not give any personal information to these people who call. A wise course of action is to simply not answer the phone if you have caller id. If you do answer the phone, hang up as soon as they say they are from the IRS.
There is also another scam making the rounds – you receive a call from Microsoft saying there is something wrong with your computer and they need to remote in to help you fix it. Again, Microsoft will not call you – they have no way of monitoring your computer. Don’t give any information, do not let them have access to your computer. Just hang up.