TUCSON, Ariz. – As Arizonans file their taxes, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva is urging constituents to be cautious of tax scams. Thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams. A new tax scam includes taxpayers receiving calls from individuals pretending to be Congressional Aides.

“My Congressional office and others will never call to collect money on behalf of the IRS,” said Rep. Grijalva. “I urge Arizona taxpayers to be aware of IRS impersonation calls and report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

The Congressional Aide scam is not yet not listed as a Tax Scam on the IRS website, but more information on existing scams is available here.

Scammers use the regular mail, telephone, or email to set up individuals, businesses, payroll and tax professionals. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRS employee:

• View your tax account information online or review their payment options at IRS.gov to see the actual amount owed
• If the caller is an IRS employee with a legitimate need to contact you, please call them back using the appropriate online resources

If the individual is not an IRS employee and does not have a legitimate need to contact you and regardless of whether you were a victim of the scam or not, report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agencies:

• If IRS-related, please report to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) via their online complaint form.
• If Treasury-related, please report to the Office of the Treasury Inspector General (TIG) via OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov

Please report IRS or Treasury-related fraudulent calls to phishing@irs.gov (Subject: IRS Phone Scam).

For any fraudulent call, after listening to the message, do not provide any information and hang up. When you report the fraudulent call, please include:

• The telephone number of the caller (e.g., Caller ID)
• The telephone number you were instructed to call back
• A brief description of the communication

If possible, please include:

• The employee name
• The employee badge number
• The exact date and time that you received the call(s)
• The geographic location and time zone where you received the call if possible

In addition, please consider filing a complaint with the:

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) via their online complaint form
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by visiting the Consumer Complaint Center. Consumers should select the “phone” form and then the “Unwanted Calls” under “Phone Issues”, and provide details of the call in the description of their complaint
• Your local Attorney General’s office via their consumer complaint form (the reporting mechanism will vary by state)

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