Texas Tech has joined the Internal Revenue Services in warning members of the community about potential scams via phone and email.

The Office of the Chief Information Officer issued a statement outlining safe internet and phone practices.

According to Texas Tech, the IRS will not: 

  • Call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call you if you owe taxes without first sending you a bill in the mail; 
  • Demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount that you owe; 
  • Require that you pay owed taxes with a specific form of payment; 
  • Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 
  • Threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying.

“If you get legitimate correspondence from the IRS it will always come through the mail. They will not call you like that. So, that’s your very first clue that this is a scam and you should just hang up,” said Jimmy Pendergrass, Partner with Pratas, Smith & Moore. “If you do get correspondence or get a phone call like that, first thing you know, hang up. Call your tax preparer for advice.”

“Between the IRS scams and the identity theft issues it’s really a growing problem right now,” Pendergrass said. “Mostly it’s from intimidation, unfortunately. We’re hearing from a lot of our clients that they’re getting phone calls from people pretending to be the IRS.”

Texas Tech CIO Sam Segran urged the community to keep passwords safeguarded, and tread carefully online.

“Some antivirus programs… will actually tell you if the website you’re going to is considered a safe website to go to. At the very least, people should use that.,” Segran said. “Instead of clicking on that email link, you’re better off opening the browser and typing in the name of the website to go to. So, every step of the way, you want to protect yourself in terms of how you’re doing your business online.”

“Unfortunately, it’s all across the board. It’s from every demographic. Young, elderly, from every profession. We’re even hearing from doctor clients, that they’re getting these types of phone calls,” Pendergrass added. “And it’s very lucrative for these individuals, who are trying to scam people. Because if people give in to them, it’s easy money.”

The IRS urges anyone with unresolved tax debt to call 800-829-1040 for assistance.

“These scams are highly profitable to these criminals; the IRS reports nearly 4,550 victims who have collectively reported over $23 million in financial losses as a result of tax scams over the past two years,” the statement from Texas Tech said.

“It’s thinking through the process of yourself and you being able to recover your computing information and not letting somebody else get to it. Don’t share passwords, and as much as possible, don’t share your computer,” Segran explained.

To read more about the IRS scam alerts from the federal government, click here.

The Better Business Bureau has provided a scam tracker to help investigate and warn others of possible scams in the community.