Hang up, then call the IRS yourself

The voicemail says you owe the IRS, a warrant is out, and the police are on their way unless you call back now. It is meant to make your heart race, and it works on careful people. Before you do anything, one breath and this:

Hang up, do not call back the number they gave you, and never pay a caller by gift card or wire transfer — the IRS does not threaten arrest and never demands payment that way.

Four signs to listen for

Many people say the same thing about the payment: no government agency takes gift cards, and a caller who asks for them is running a scam. The IRS says so itself — it never calls to demand immediate payment by gift card, prepaid debit card or wire transfer — and the Federal Trade Commission is blunter: only scammers tell you to buy a gift card and read them the numbers off the back. Many people say real tax authorities do not threaten arrest, jail or a police raid over the phone, and two more that the threat is the tactic, meant to create panic; one person adds that scammers threaten arrest precisely because they cannot carry it out. The IRS agrees: it does not threaten arrest or deportation. The third sign is the rush: the IRS says it does not demand payment without giving you the chance to question or appeal what it says you owe. The fourth is a warning rather than proof: the caller asks for personal or financial details. The IRS lists that as a red flag, though a genuine collection agency working for it will ask a few questions to confirm who you are — after you have had its letters.

One person put the whole method in a sentence: these scams rely on panic, and stopping to think is what shows how absurd an instant arrest over a tax bill, paid in gift cards, really is.

The rule people repeat, and why it is not the test

Many people say the IRS always writes first, by mail, and never calls, so any call is a scam. It is a good instinct, and the IRS itself says it normally makes first contact by mail. But people correct it: some say the IRS can phone, and another that such calls are rare: collection staff call to work out payments, the private collection agencies the IRS uses call about overdue accounts, and follow-up calls come after letters. One person who said they had been an income tax auditor said audits start with a phone call; the IRS’s own audit page says the opposite — it notifies you of an audit by mail and will not start one by telephone. And one warning is the reason it matters: ignoring a call because you assume it is a scam can cost you penalties if it was a real notice.

So rest on the part that holds either way. A real IRS contact, including a private collection agency working for it, can be checked; a scam cannot survive the check. The IRS says that before a private collection agency calls, you get two letters — one from the IRS and one from the agency — carrying an authentication number the caller will use, that these agencies cannot threaten you or ask for gift cards, and that payment only ever goes to the IRS, with checks made out to the U.S. Treasury. It also says unannounced visits are rare, a letter usually comes first, and anyone who does come to the door carries two official credentials.

Check it yourself

Some people give the check: hang up, and call the official number you find yourself — on the IRS website, or on a letter you already have — never the number the caller or the voicemail gave you. The IRS’s number for individuals is 800-829-1040, and its website lets you sign in to an online account that shows what you owe, if anything. One person’s polite way to end the call without risking a real one is to ask for it in writing, by mail, to the address the IRS already holds for you.

Some people say never give a Social Security number, bank details or even your address to someone who rang you, however much of your file they claim to have. Four say make the caller prove who they are rather than asking you — but one person answers that: scammers may already hold real details from data breaches, so a caller who knows your name, address or even part of your number has proved nothing. The check that works is the one you start yourself.

Paper is not proof either. One person says even a summons that arrives by mail can be fake and that, if one does, a lawyer can tell you whether it is real; the IRS says its notices can be checked in your online account.

If you have already paid, or told them something

The steps at the top of this page are the ones to take first. They come from the Federal Trade Commission, which says to tell the company that issued the gift card, the wire service, your card issuer or bank, or the payment app, straight away, and ask for the money back; and IdentityTheft.gov is where to start if you gave a Social Security number. What to do after that is not covered here; the FTC’s page on what to do if you were scammed goes further.

To report the call itself, one person names the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the IRS confirms it: note the number and hang up, then tell the inspector general’s hotline on 800-366-4484 or its online form, and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The same call, other names

The script travels. Others describe it with other names on it — the police, the Justice Department, tech support, a music-industry group, a bank, the Social Security office — and the same demands: a card number, a money order, a gift card, now. Some arrive as texts about a locked account with poor spelling, or as emails from a payment service that look completely real; for an email that claims to be from the tax office, another says log in to the real website directly rather than clicking the link.

And the caller ID means nothing. Some people said looking the number up online works; the better-evidenced answer was that scammers fake the number shown, and some people warn the same. Others describe calls showing a Washington, D.C. number, the victim’s own number, and even 911, the US emergency number — which, one person points out, is not a line anyone calls out from. Some people warn that a scammer may call back showing 911 after you hang up; it is the same scam, and the same answer applies. Some people say faking caller ID is not always illegal, for example when a business forwards calls; using it to defraud you is.

Who this page is not for

If you do have an open matter with the IRS — letters you have answered, an audit, a payment plan, an offer to settle a debt — calls can be real, and the rule to hang up on every one of them will not serve you. Check each call against your letters and your online account, and one person’s advice for anyone with an offer to settle a tax debt in progress is to have an enrolled agent or accountant hold power of attorney and take the calls.

In the UK, the tax office is HMRC, and its own guidance is short: HMRC will never threaten arrest, never leave a voicemail threatening legal action, and never ask you to pay with gift or payment vouchers. You can report a suspicious call through the GOV.UK online service, forward a suspicious text to 60599, and send a suspicious email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk; if you have lost money, report it to Report Fraud, or to Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland.

In Canada, some people describe the same scam with the Canada Revenue Agency’s name on it. The CRA says it may contact you by phone, automated message, letter or email, but will never demand immediate payment by e-transfer, cryptocurrency, prepaid credit card or gift card, and never threaten to arrest or deport you. Elsewhere, your own tax office’s website says how it really gets in touch.