On June 18, 2024 the Michigan Attorney General’s office released an alert warning Michigan businesses of IRS imposter scams. This particular warning high-lights IRS look-alike scams with relation to EINs (Employee Identification Numbers). In this scam, criminals are sending IRS Form 9710 to businesses asking them to return the form once filled out as an error was discovered for that business. The catch is, there is no such thing as IRS Form 9710. The cherry on top of this scam is the criminals are also asking for a fee to be paid to “fix the error” of the business.
Words from the Attorney General
“If you receive this fake form, don’t fill it out or return it,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said. “Instead, just throw it away. The IRS has clear procedures and will never pressure you to pay extra fees for a correct EIN or use third-party services to collect your information. My department remains committed to protecting consumers and their businesses from these bad actors.”
In full force
Back in March I warned of IRS scams during tax season, including IRS impersonations. In my warning I spoke on what the criminals are after.
“This request can be to divulge information, generally a social security number, financial account number, or other confidential information. They may even ask you to update the direct deposit information for any refunds.”
Just as I said then, the Michigan Attorney General’s office says no, IRS imposter scams attempts to receive money from you and also private information.
Throw it away
If you receive a letter from the IRS it is best to independently verify its legitimacy. This can be done by calling the IRS or by visiting a local IRS office. If planning to call the IRS, do not call the number(s) found in the letter you received, but from the legitimate IRS website instead. The same if visiting an IRS office, find the legitimate office address from the IRS website. This way you can be sure you aren’t visiting the criminals location.
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