Sometimes fraud prevention can be boiled down to nice, simple rules that don’t leave much room for subtlety. Never wire money to a stranger. Just keeping that one rule in mind will keep you out of a lot of trouble, even if you forget the details of the scams that utilize the technique.
The IRS will never call you was another one of those hard rules, but as of 2017, it’s become a little more complicated. However, for the most part, nothing has really changed when it comes to fraud prevention.
Basically, the IRS will be contracting with four collection agencies, who will only be contacting certain taxpayers who have been delinquent for a significant period of time, whom the IRS has been unable to locate, and who meet certain other criteria. Furthermore, the collectors will not be demanding payments. Instead, they will be directing taxpayers toward electronic options for paying the IRS directly.
This means that some people will be getting calls from collection agencies on behalf of the IRS. The rest of the fraud prevention rules still apply: if they threaten you with incarceration or demand immediate payment, it’s a scam. If they’re talking about wiring money or loading up gift cards, it’s a scam.
Since con artists are nothing if not adaptable, I’ll add this point: if they do anything other than tell you about how you can pay the IRS directly on your own, it’s a scam. I’m sure someone is already gearing up to make calls claiming to be a collection agency, then telling victims they can pay over the phone with a credit card, with a wire transfer or with prepaid gift cards, or by visiting a fraudulent website. The collection agencies the IRS is using will not be asking for nor accepting payments from delinquent taxpayers. At all.
The actual website where you can pay your taxes, overdue or otherwise, is IRS.gov/Pay. And that’s pretty much the only thing the collection agencies contracted by the IRS are going to be allowed to tell you. Any mention of a different website to pay your taxes? Scam.
I recommend reading the full article below for more detailed information.