As Tax Day Approaches, McCaskill Urges IRS to Combat Phone Scams Defrauding Hundreds of Thousands of Americans
After Congress OK-ed robocalls & private contractors for government debt collection—measures opposed by McCaskill—Senator demands agency’s plan to protect consumers, raise consumer awareness of fraudulent calls
WASHINGTON – As tax day approaches, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is urging the Internal Revenue Service to combat fraudulent robocalls from scam artists pretending to be government tax agents.
Last year, Congress authorized the use of robocalls for government debt collection. McCaskill opposed these efforts, out of concern that such calls would confuse consumers and muddy the agency’s message that the IRS never calls individuals. The agency’s messaging efforts were partly spurred by a McCaskill investigation last year.
“I am concerned that a new program that gives the green light to legitimate and authorized debt collectors will only serve to confuse vulnerable individuals,” wrote McCaskill in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “How will an individual know whether a caller claiming to represent the IRS is a scam artist or a government contractor? While this change in policy may lead to an increase in tax collections, I have very serious concerns that it will only further embolden the scam artists who already prey on individuals by impersonating IRS agents. Given the deep concerns American have about identity theft, it is essential that the IRS take care in implementing a program that could lead to confusion.”
McCaskill, a longtime advocate for preventing IRS identity and other scams—last year led a hearing on preventing phone scams and the IRS impersonation scheme, which officials have called the “largest, most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of the IRS.” According to government figures, this scam, which has targeted hundreds of thousands of Americans, has cost victims of $23 million in less than two years.
At that hearing, McCaskill said, “If you get a call from the IRS out of the blue, don’t answer it—let it go to voicemail.” The IRS has developed that same consistent messaging, however, last winter Congress passed two measures that would upend that message by making it far more likely that consumers might confuse a real IRS call with that of a scammer. Those measures required the IRS to employ private debt collectors, and to allow those debt collectors to use robocalls for debt collection. McCaskill strongly opposed both measures.
McCaskill also backed bipartisan legislation that would repeal the legalizing of IRS robocalls by requiring callers to have the receiving party’s consent before making automated calls or texts for collecting debts owed or guaranteed by the federal government. The bill is supported by several prominent consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of American and Consumers Union.
McCaskill also recently requested from the IRS a plan on how the agency intends to crack down on identity theft scammers who are stealing consumers’ Identity Protection PINs in order to file fraudulent tax returns. These PINs were originally intended to deter fraudulent filing by thieves who may already possess an individual’s stolen personally identifying information.
Full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/consumers to learn more about McCaskill's fight to protect consumers
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