{"id":35242,"date":"2017-02-24T15:11:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T21:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=35242"},"modified":"2017-02-24T15:11:54","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T21:11:54","slug":"irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2017\/02\/24\/irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Warns of Video Relay Scam Targeting Deaf and Hard of Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>IRS Warns of Video Relay Scam Targeting Deaf and Hard of Hearing<\/h1>\n<p>IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2017-03, February 17, 2017<\/p>\n<p>Every day scammers come up with new ways to steal taxpayers\u2019 identities and personal information. Some scammers pretend to be from the IRS with one goal in mind: to steal money.<\/p>\n<p>Be aware that con artists will use video relay services (VRS) to try to scam deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Don\u2019t become a victim. Deaf and hard of hearing taxpayers should avoid giving out personal and financial information to anyone they do not know. Always confirm that the person requesting personal information is who they say they are.<\/p>\n<p>Do not automatically trust calls just because they are made through VRS. VRS interpreters do not screen calls for validity.<\/p>\n<p>The IRS has procedures in place for taxpayers who are experiencing tax issues. If you receive a call through VRS from someone claiming to be from the IRS, keep this in mind:<\/p>\n<p><b>The IRS Will Never:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"first-child\">Demand immediate payment and require the payment be made a specific way, such as by prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. In most cases, the IRS will not call taxpayers about taxes owed without first having mailed a letter to the taxpayer.<\/li>\n<li>Threaten that local police or other law-enforcement groups will immediately arrest taxpayers for not paying a tax bill.<\/li>\n<li>Demand that taxpayers pay taxes without giving them the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.<\/li>\n<li class=\"last-child\">Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Receive a Suspicious Call? Here\u2019s What to Do:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"first-child\">Deaf and hard of hearing taxpayers who owe taxes or think they might owe taxes should call the IRS at 800-829-1040 through VRS. IRS employees can help with a payment issue or confirm if there really is a tax issue.<\/li>\n<li>Taxpayers who know they don\u2019t owe taxes or have no reason to think that they owe any taxes (for example, they\u2019ve never received an IRS letter or the caller made bogus threats or demands as described above), should call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, at 800-366-4484.<\/li>\n<li class=\"last-child\">Taxpayers can file a complaint using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov\/Information?OrgCode=IRS#crnt&amp;panel1-1\">FTC Complaint Assistant<\/a>. If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words \u201cIRS Telephone Scam\u201d in the notes.<\/li>\n<li class=\"last-child\">To learn more about the latest tax phone scams, go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.IRS.gov\">http:\/\/www.IRS.gov<\/a> and type \u201cscam\u201d in the search field. IRS YouTube videos are available on a variety of topics in American Sign Language (ASL) with open-captions and voice over.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>IRS YouTube Videos:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"first-child\">ASL: Tax Scams via Video Relay Service \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LHYB-g-pTTc\">ASL<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tax Scams \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0y5z0kWgBcM\">English<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/El6yHP-7ukE\">Spanish<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X8Ne6yUkAms\">ASL<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Dirty Dozen \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ghQp0DxzY6g\">English<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/b5UJW-6xHiU\">Spanish<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3m00utYuncs\">ASL<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tax-Related Identity Theft \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1EvfqG-6L5w\">English<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gL97z5jHwcQ&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Spanish<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-UFACysKLYo\">ASL<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"last-child\">IRS Identity Theft FAQ: Going After The Bad Guys \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YIPVZOt8rHE\">English<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bvNVhFnpC6c&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Spanish<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b24nZoY-Kro\">ASL<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SOURCE:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing#IRS\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing#IRS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IRS Warns of Video Relay Scam Targeting Deaf and Hard of Hearing IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2017-03, February 17, 2017 Every day scammers come up with new ways to steal taxpayers\u2019 identities and personal information. Some scammers pretend to&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2017\/02\/24\/irs-warns-of-video-relay-scam-targeting-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25527,1412,2777,497,498,650,61],"class_list":["post-35242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-deaf","tag-ftc","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-irs","tag-scam","tag-scammer","tag-video-relay-service","tag-vrs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-9aq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7213,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/07\/21\/ip-relay-scam\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":0},"title":"IP-Relay Scam","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"IP-Relay Scam By Bradley Porche July 20, 2009 http:\/\/www.dphhh.com\/ As you may have seen on ABC 13, there has been a discussion about the scammers using i711.com. Since there has been a heightened awareness of the ip-relay scam or also known as www.i711.com scam. Please note, i711.com itself is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1753,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/06\/08\/irs-warns-taxpayers-of-new-e-mail-scams\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":1},"title":"IRS Warns Taxpayers of New E-mail Scams","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"IRS Warns Taxpayers of New E-mail Scams IR-2007-109, May 31, 2007 WASHINGTON \u2014 The Internal Revenue Service today alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency\u2019s Criminal Investigation division. The e-mail purporting to be from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/02\/20\/scammers-hit-deaf-relay-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":2},"title":"Scammers Hit Deaf Relay System","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Scammers Hit Deaf Relay System Friday, 16 Feb 2007 AUSTIN -- It's meant to help deaf people communicate, but now, scammers are using an internet relay system to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting businesses. And the worst part? Phone companies can't even trace most calls because the law won't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9643,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/03\/10\/three-former-owners-and-employees-of-two-video-relay-service-companies-plead-guilty-to-defrauding-fcc-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":3},"title":"Three Former Owners and Employees of Two Video Relay Service Companies Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Three Former Owners and Employees of Two Video Relay Service Companies Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program Three former owners and employees of two different video relay service companies pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12220,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/11\/02\/owner-and-a-former-executive-of-indicted-video-relay-services-company-plead-guilty-to-defrauding-fcc-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":4},"title":"Owner and a Former Executive of Indicted Video Relay Services Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 28, 2010 Owner and a Former Executive of Indicted Video Relay Services Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program WASHINGTON \u2013 John T.C. Yeh, the owner of Viable Communications Inc., and his brother, Joseph Yeh, the former vice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12694,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/12\/24\/att-introduces-video-relay-service-app-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-users-on-the-app-store\/","url_meta":{"origin":35242,"position":5},"title":"AT&amp;T Introduces Video Relay Service App for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users on the App Store","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"AT&T Introduces Video Relay Service App for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users on the App Store App Allows Users To Make Video Relay Service Calls With iPhone 4 DALLAS, Dec. 21, 2010 \/PRNewswire\/ -- AT&T* today announced a new video relay service (VRS) app for iPhone 4 that allows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35244,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35242\/revisions\/35244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}