Tax Preparation Gets Underway Ahead Of April Deadline
The Internal Revenue Service will never ask you for a credit card number over the phone or request that you pay back taxes via a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer. (Tim Boyle | Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — New Jersey residents have lost $661,738 to scammers claiming to represent the Internal Revenue Service and demanding immediate payment of alleged back taxes.
That's the seventh-highest total among the 50 states since the scam first came to the attention of the government in October 2013, according to the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration. The highest: California at $3.8 million, followed by New York at $1.4 million.
To date, the scam has cost 3,112 taxpayers -- 175 of them from the Garden State -- a total of $15.6 million.
"This is the largest and most pervasive scam in the history of our agency," said Karen Kraushaar, a spokeswoman for the inspector general's office. "The callers prey on people's fear of the IRS."
If you owe money, the IRS will contact you by letter, not by e-mail or phone call, said J. Russell George, the inspector general, when he issued a warning about the scam in January. And the agency will never ask for payments via pre-paid debit cards or wire transfers or ask you for a credit card number over the phone.
"Don't fall for it; don't become the next victim," Kraushaar said. "Hang up the phone. And if they keep calling back, keep hanging up."
If you are concerned that you may owe taxes, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.