The IRS Phone Call Scam Explained

What is the IRS phone call scam?

Someone calls you claiming they work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and you owe the back taxes or they are asking for your Social Security Number (SSN). This is a scam to try and extort money from you or a phishing attempt to try and steal your identity. The IRS will NEVER call you out of the blue stating you owe back taxes or ask for your personal information. The IRS will only send notices of back owed taxes through the mail and it will come on official letterhead.

The caller will say they are someone with an official title like "Officer" and claim you are going to be sued, you have a warrant for your arrest, your property will be seized, freeze your bank accounts, your wages will be garnished or a lien/judgement will be placed against you. They will tell you any number of scary things trying to get you to do what they say. The caller could have a thick sounding accent or use broken english as most of these scammers are not even located in the United States. They will tell you they can make it all go away for a "one-time" payment of a specific amount of money payable to an account they specify. Often they will tell you to pay them in gift cards or pre-paid credit cards, most of which are untraceable.

Beware because, in addition to trying to extort money from you, they are often also after your Social Security Number or personal information for which they will use to steal your identity. Whatever you do, do not pay them or give them any of your information!

What should I do when I get a call?

Stay calm and resist the pressure to act quickly. Get their information and then tell the caller you will call them back, but DO NOT call the number they called you from. They will probably yell and threaten you for even asking for their information. Ignore them and insist they give you their information. If they don't give you their info, you can assume it is a scam and hang up on them. If they did give you their information, call the official IRS number at 1-800-366-4484 to validate if the caller was really from the IRS. In nearly all cases, you're going to find that it wasn't a real call from the IRS.

If you feel threatened, call your local police department and file a police report.

What can you to help stop this?

1. Report the phone number to the IRS. They have a special website setup just for this. You can find it here: TIGTA
2. Search for the phone number on CallReceived.com and report the number here as well, as we're keeping track of the phone numbers these scammers are using.

IRS Phone Numbers

Per the IRS website:

Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, unless otherwise noted. Residents of Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time. Puerto Rico phone lines are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time.

Individuals:
1-800-829-1040

Businesses:
1-800-829-4933

See their contact page for more detailed information: IRS Telephone Contact
You can also contact your local IRS office by using this form: Find Your Local IRS Office

How many reports do you have about the IRS scam in the last 12 months?

We created this chart so you can see the volume:

What phone numbers have been reported recently?

Phone Number	# of Reports	Most Recent Report
754-281-9640	1	09/13/2019 4:43 pm
517-507-5939	1	09/06/2019 7:15 am
717-347-8164	2	09/04/2019 9:26 am
989-252-2325	1	09/04/2019 7:00 am
709-772-7039	1	08/22/2019 6:03 pm
800-845-0004	1	08/22/2019 10:39 am
438-798-0011	1	08/21/2019 6:43 am
647-274-7697	1	08/14/2019 6:53 am
860-305-3421	1	08/08/2019 8:26 am
512-887-9500	1	07/17/2019 11:02 am
438-700-4511	3	07/10/2019 4:18 pm
646-481-5954	1	07/01/2019 2:23 pm
984-538-1130	2	06/25/2019 3:00 pm
512-562-0078	1	06/20/2019 11:55 am
416-402-1365	1	06/18/2019 10:56 am
416-402-1350	1	06/18/2019 8:44 am
416-406-1469	1	06/17/2019 6:46 pm
415-988-9160	1	06/13/2019 12:40 pm
203-463-2313	1	06/12/2019 1:12 pm
419-320-1718	1	06/10/2019 12:08 pm
360-886-3720	1	06/06/2019 11:26 am
281-823-8544	1	06/06/2019 10:17 am
707-335-6457	1	05/30/2019 1:56 pm
718-666-3629	1	05/28/2019 1:15 pm
234-231-0036	1	05/23/2019 1:19 pm
289-200-5924	2	05/24/2019 8:16 am
323-744-3261	1	05/17/2019 7:05 am
204-378-0026	1	05/09/2019 3:52 pm
604-727-1389	1	05/07/2019 4:02 pm
703-586-9689	1	05/07/2019 1:37 am

What states have the most IRS scam calls?

Country	State	# of Reports	Most Recent Report
USA	New York	384	07/01/2019
USA	California	369	06/13/2019
USA	Texas	140	07/17/2019
Canada	Ontario	120	08/14/2019
USA	Washington	116	06/06/2019
USA	Florida	77	09/13/2019
USA	New Jersey	63	04/29/2019
USA	Washington DC	53	09/04/2018
USA	Pennsylvania	53	09/04/2019
USA	Colorado	49	04/24/2019
USA	Georgia	48	05/03/2019
USA	North Carolina	45	06/25/2019
USA	Illinois	44	01/22/2019
USA	Ohio	42	06/10/2019
USA	Vermont	33	12/06/2018
USA	Virginia	32	05/07/2019
USA	Missouri	31	08/14/2018
USA	Arizona	30	08/23/2018
USA	Massachusetts	30	11/22/2018
USA	Kentucky	27	08/18/2018
USA	Maryland	27	04/08/2019
USA	Louisiana	26	04/02/2018
USA	New Mexico	26	09/23/2016
USA	Minnesota	24	09/27/2018
USA	Tennessee	22	07/12/2018
USA	Michigan	22	09/06/2019
USA	Oregon	20	11/20/2018
USA	North Dakota	19	09/19/2016
USA	Alabama	19	06/30/2017
USA	Wisconsin	17	09/06/2017
Canada	British Columbia	16	05/07/2019
USA	Oklahoma	15	05/26/2017
USA	Iowa	15	03/26/2019
USA	Indiana	14	12/14/2018
USA	South Carolina	13	05/02/2017
Canada	Quebec	13	08/21/2019
USA	Maine	13	09/23/2016
USA	Kansas	10	10/05/2018
USA	Nevada	9	05/03/2019
		8	08/22/2019
USA	Delaware	7	03/27/2019
USA	Utah	7	01/07/2019
USA	New Hampshire	7	07/29/2016
USA	West Virginia	6	09/17/2018
USA	Arkansas	6	11/20/2018
USA	Mississippi	6	01/23/2018
USA	Connecticut	5	08/08/2019
Canada	Newfoundland	5	08/22/2019
Canada	Manitoba	4	05/09/2019
USA	Montana	3	05/15/2018
Canada	Alberta	3	06/18/2018
USA	Nebraska	3	07/06/2018
USA	South Dakota	2	08/05/2018
USA	Hawaii	2	08/24/2016
Canada	Saskatchewan	2	06/14/2017
USA	Rhode Island	1	09/21/2018
USA	Alaska	1	06/09/2016

Recent IRS Scam Comments