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Thieves posing as the IRS are finding new ways to con people out of money pretty much every day — and part of the reason why is because so many people continue to fall for these viscous scams!
According to a report from USAToday, 20-year-old Maggie Passino received several frantic phone calls on her first day of college from someone claiming to be with the IRS.
She ignored the first call to her cell phone, but when she started to receive call after call, she finally answered.
‘They kept calling and calling and calling until I picked up,’ Passino told USAToday.
The caller, who said he was with the IRS, had Passino’s name and home address. He told her she owed ‘back taxes and taxes for school’ and that if she didn’t pay him immediately, she would be arrested.
‘He said, ‘You’re going to be receiving a call from 911 and if you pick that up, you’ll be arrested,” said Passino.
Then 911 appeared on her phone.
Finally, after threats that she would be arrested and worried about her financial aid and other things, Passino went to a nearby Kroger and put all of her savings on an iTunes gift card — which is what the scammer told her to do.
Read more: This text message scam will steal your banking information
When you think about it, why would the IRS ask someone to pay taxes in the form of an iTunes gift card?
‘I was freaked out,’ Passino said. ‘It was horrible. It’s the first day of classes — and everything is already in jeopardy.’
So she put $500 on three separate iTunes cards and $262 on a fourth, using her debit card.
And this is far from an isolated incident — many people have fallen for the same, or similar type of, scam and lost thousands of dollars.
These IRS imposters arely on consumers to be caught off guard — not having time to think about the logistics and whether the whole thing makes sense — which causes them to react quickly and hand over cash in some way, shape or form.
With the iTunes gift card, or other gift card, scam, the thieves ask you to put money on the card and then read them the 16-digit code off the back. That allows them to quickly access the cash, in most cases, in a way that’s untraceable.
The victims are then left with nothing.
Read more: Another IRS phone scam to watch out for
According to the IRS website, if you get a call about any of the following, hang up immediately!
The IRS will never:
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and you still aren’t sure if it’s a scam or not, here’s what the IRS says you should do:
For whatever reason, smartphones have caused people to let their guard down — and now more and more people are falling victim to various scams carried out via phone call, email and text message.
Scammers make themselves look legitimate so you will trust them — and they prey on people’s emotions and fears to get them to make fast decisions, before there’s even time to think it through.
So to help you avoid some common and ongoing scams, keep these tips in mind:
Read more: Beware of Social Security scam that will steal your money
This post was last modified on March 22, 2017 4:27 pm
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