Summer in Michigan might mean vacation time for many of us, but the Michigan Department of Treasury is warning us to remain alert for aggressive and threatening phone calls made by criminals who never take a holiday from impersonating state tax officials as they try to scam you out of your hard earned cash.
Treasury officials in Lansing tell us that they typically observe scam phone calls throughout the summer where scammers make unsolicited calls claiming to be tax officials and asking for cash through a wire transfer, prepaid debit card or gift card. Additionally, the criminals may leave “urgent” callback requests through robocalls or phishing emails.
Deputy Treasurer for Michigan, Glenn White, is head of the Treasury’s Tax Administration Group. He readily admits, “Cybercriminals don’t take summer vacations.” He reminds everyone that The Michigan Department of Treasury does not initially contact any taxpayer through the phone. Instead, he says, “Our first interaction is generally done by mail.”
Making it even more difficult to distinguish is the fact that scammers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the call is actually coming from the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service or another agency calling. The callers may use employee titles, a person’s name, address and other personal information to sound official. Nevertheless you are reminded of several key factors including the fact that Treasury officials:
- Will never initiate a phone call to ask for personal information.
- Will never call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. Generally, Treasury will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes.
- Will never threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
- Will never demand that taxes be paid without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
- Will never ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
Taxpayers who don’t owe taxes or don’t think they owe taxes should hang up immediately if they receive one of these calls. For individuals who owe taxes or think they do, they can call 517-636-4486 to find out their account balance information.
Taxpayers who have received a call from a scammer should report the case to the IRS through the web or by calling 800-366-4484.
To learn more about Michigan’s individual income tax, you can go to the link below:
http://www.michigan.gov/incometax
