Page 3 - 1708

ctober was a busy month! While people call him back immediately to discuss your delin-
across America have been busy trying to quent taxes
protect themselves from the potential con-
seq
O uences of the Equifax data breach, If the caller does leave a message and request
new / improved scams and/or cyber-dangers have for call back, check the caller ID information and
continued to appear. Here is an example….. the phone number that was provided for callback.
Here are the four private collection agencies that
“IRS” robocalls. These, of course, are not really the IRS is working with:

from the IRS although your caller ID will say they
are. Folks who have been paying attention to the 1. CBE - P.O. Box 2217 Waterloo, IA 50704 1
increase in “spoofed” caller IDs would typically ig- -800-910-5837
nore these calls, especially since the IRS normally 2. ConServe - P.O. Box 307 Fairport, NY
contacts taxpayers by letter. (For example, if they 14450-0307 1-844-853-4875
do want to talk to you they will send you a letter ex- 3. Performant - P.O. Box 9045 Pleasanton,
CA 94566-9045 1-844-807-9367
plaining the situation and ask that you call them.) Pioneer - P.O. Box 500 Horseheads, NY
However, there is now a new wrinkle. 14845 1-800-448-3531

Starting this year, the IRS began using private col- If the caller ID information and callback phone
lection agencies to assist in their collection efforts. number do not match any of these agencies, you
Those agencies are authorized to call delinquent are dealing with a scammer. Just don’t call back;
taxpayers as part of their normal process. But you it saves you from having to go through an annoy-
should not begin receiving these legitimate phone ing phone conversation.
calls without first having been contacted by mail by (If by chance you do pick up the phone and find
the IRS, on at least several occasions. yourself in a scary conversation with someone
So, you would be well advised to ignore a call pur- claiming to be calling on behalf of the IRS, re-
porting to be from the IRS. Simply let the call go to member that legitimate callers will not demand
payment via prepaid debit, iTunes or gift cards.
voicemail. One of two things will happen. Either the Any payments should be made directly to the
caller will not leave a message, in which case you IRS, either electronically or by mail. If you have
can simply go about your business, or he will leave a any qualms about the conversation, just hang up
message, more likely than not demanding that you (Continued on page 4)

3