Each year during tax season, scammers try to use mail, phone calls, or email as a means to target individuals, businesses, and tax professionals. Thousands of people lose millions of dollars and their personal information to scammers each year. To lessen your chances of being a victim, there are a few things to keep top of mind.

• Know that the IRS will not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information.
• If you receive a call, ask the caller to provide their name, badge number, and callback number. Then call the Tax Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1-800-366-4484 to find out if the caller is an IRS employee with a legitimate reason to contact you. If you confirm that the caller is from the IRS, call them back. Otherwise, report the scam call to TIGTA.
• Be suspicious of threats. The IRS won’t threaten fines or arrest for not paying a bill.