Tax & Accounting News

The IRS Warns about Fake Charity Scams

The IRS Warns about Fake Charity Scams

Calls claiming to be IRS collections agents. Phishing expeditions to discover IRS website passwords. These are just a few of the items on this year's Internal Revenue Service “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for the 2017 tax filing season. One that's at the top of the lists is fake charity scams in which fraudsters pretend to be charitable organizations. 

According to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, “Fake charities set up by scam artists to steal your money or personal information are a recurring problem. Taxpayers should take the time to research organizations before giving their hard-earned money.” The agency issues their list of common scams each and every year, but are particularly concerned at the growing sophistication of these operations, particularly as tax filing season approaches.

If scammers are caught, they face a very real possibility of prosecution and having to pay substantial penalties, but tracking them down is not that simple. The agency has its own criminal investigation unit that works hand in glove with the Department of Justice to identify, locate and pursue these criminals.

How to Protect Yourself

 While the government works to find scammers, they are also providing specific warnings that American taxpayers should pay heed to in order to protect themselves. These include:

  • Make sure that you do not provide anybody who is asking for a contribution with any of your personal financial information. This includes bank account numbers, passwords, and Social Security Numbers. There is no need for any charitable organization to need this organization. Taxpayers are urged to check on the legitimacy of an organization prior to making a donation. This is particularly important because most donations are made using credit cards, and providing a scammer with your credit card number is an invitation to fraud.
  • Do not make charitable contributions using cash. Not only are credit card or check payments safer, but IRS tax documentation requirements will be more easily met by using a method of payment that can easily be verified.
  • Listen carefully to the names of charities. Many fraudulent organizations use names that are extremely close, but not exactly the same as nationally-recognized charities. These scammers go to a great deal of effort to fool unsuspecting taxpayers, even going so far as to create websites that look nearly identical to those of legitimate organizations. The Internal Revenue Service's website, irs.gov, provides a service called Exempt Organizations Select Check which provides a way to identify legitimate charitable organizations that provide the opportunity to make a tax deductible contribution. In order to appear on the agency's list, organizations provide the IRS with their Employer Identification Number (EIN). These also go by the term federal tax identification numbers. You can request the same information in order to ensure that the charity you are about to contribute to is real.

Scammers Imitating Charitable Organizations

 In addition to trying to collect your personal information, scammers are also taking advantage of good-hearted citizens who want to provide for people who have suffered as a result of human tragedy. Whether it is following a natural disaster like an earthquake, flood or hurricane or a tragedy in the news such as a mass shooting, people want to help, and whenever that happens there will be somebody trying to make money. Fraudulent charity scammers will call unsuspecting, generous Americans and ask them for money (or their personal credit card information) to benefit victims and their families. The IRS suggests that anybody wanting to provide for this type of charity contact the charity they want to contribute to on their own rather than provide sensitive information in response to somebody contacting you.  Conversely, if you are the victim of a tragedy and need information on tax relief, the IRS provides a toll-free number, 866-562-5227, through which you can get the answers you need.

You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the Select Check search tool, as well as the other tools that the IRS provides to protect American taxpayers from scammers.

share this post
Search for matches...
Karen C. Drescher, CPA, CGMA

Karen C. Drescher, CPA, CGMA

Whether it is helping a individual or a Georgia small business with their taxes, or offering to be a backstop through their difficulties, Karen is always there for her clients. When you are a client of Karen's, she always tries to make you feel comfortable in a casual and friendly environment.

Recommended Professionals

In the face of economic uncertainty, TaxBuzz is the industry's most up-to-date tax information.

Join 60,000 who get our weekly newsletter. No spam.

Need help selecting a firm?

Use our specialized search engine and get matched to the best accounting and tax firm for your needs.

Related Posts

Latest Posts