Tax scam aimed at business owners

A few of the local businesses have reported a fraudulent letter to the sheriff ’s office. In the letter, the sender claims that the business owes a laughable some of money; in this case $175,173,862.23. The sender then gives an 844-number they can call to dispute the charge, in order to get the receiver of the letter on the phone. It should be noted that there is no address for the receiver to pay the bill if they wanted to. Similar scammers hope the receiver will call and to dispute the charge. Once they do, they will negotiate a smaller charge which the receiver may be willing to pay.

Some of these letters are easy to spot because of the punctuation, spelling, and grammar issues. For instance, in this letter “responsibility” is misspelled and the ongoing reference to the “The State Of Texas,” when it should be the “State of Texas”. The mistakes are left in as an example below. That said, scammers continue to get better at fooling people.

The letter that is going around currently is titled, “SEIZURE OR FORFEITURE MAY BE IMMINENT DUE TO NON-PAYMENT OF TAXES.” The letter goes on to say that “this warrant has been issued against (UNNAMED BUSINESS) due to non-payment of a seriously delinquent tax debt. The liability has not been paid. This letter serves as a final judgmental notice.

“The State Of Texas can now take enforcement action such as seizing Social Security benefits, garnishing wages and bank accounts to satisfy the outstanding debt owed. lf no action is taken by 4/28/2022 the State Of Texas may revoke benefits, suspend licenses, and levy or offset any tax refund gained this year. Your debt must be satisfied in full or settled to remove the levy. To avoid enforcement, call within fifteen (15) days of receiving this notice. Failure to respond may result in additional penalties, fees and interest.

“In the event, any amount other than costs recovered shall be credited against the tax liability for the collection of which such levy is made. This is not a bill. As a Taxpayer, you have the right to pay only the amount of tax legally due. Penalties, fees and interest are unequal periodic amounts calculated and applied by the State Of Texas.

“If you believe these balances are incorrect or wish to dispute any unjust penalties call (844) ***-8810 immediately. We look forward to hearing from you immediately, and hope to assist you in fulfilling your responsibilty as a taxpayer.”

Upon researching the number, the IRS website came up immediately with a flag warning people about fraudulent tax schemes “With scam artists hard at work all year, taxpayers should watch for new versions of tax-related scams. One such scam involves fake property liens. It threatens taxpayers with a tax bill from a fictional government agency.”

“Here are some details about the property lien scam that will help taxpayers recognize it: This scheme involves a letter threatening an IRS lien or levy. The scammer mails the letter to a taxpayer. The lien or levy is based on bogus overdue taxes owed to a non-existent agency. The non-existent agencies might have a legitimate-sounding name like the “Bureau of Tax Enforcement.” There is no such agency. This scam may also reference the IRS to confuse potential victims into thinking the letter is from a real agency.

“For anyone who doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do should: Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the letter. The taxpayer should use their IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting webpage. When reporting the scam, they should include the keywords “IRS Lien.” Scan a document received as a letter or fax and send it to phishing@ irs.gov. Report it to the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant on FTC.gov. Report it also to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, known simply as IC3.

“Taxpayers who do owe tax or think they might owe should: Review their tax account information and payment options at IRS.gov. Reviewing tax account information online will show the taxpayer if they indeed owe the IRS and how much. This is the fastest way to get this information. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to confirm the notice if they’re still not sure they owe.”

“Mail scammers will try to get your attention in various ways – ranging from exciting offers to intimidating threats. Regardless of their message, the goal of a mail scam is to get you to either send money or provide your personal information.

Recently Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, sent out a release warning people of ongoing scams in which he lists a number of ongoing scams. “Common warning signs of a mail scam: A claim that you have been specially selected; A request that you “confirm your personal information”; A request for payment by means other than credit card – including cash, gift card, wire transfer or private courier; Use of suspicious official-looking documents or fake government seals; and a request for your credit card or other payment mechanisms for “shipping and handling”; Use of threats if you don’t comply – even the threat of arrest.

If you recognize any of these warning signs, stop reading and do your homework. If you suspect it is a scam, file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General.