IRS Impersonation Scams — How to Spot Them

Our verdict

A woman in Atlanta lost $280,000 to people pretending to be the IRS. She is not alone — the FTC logged $789 million in government imposter losses in 2024, up $171 million from the year before. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has received over 2.5 million contacts about IRS impersonation scams, with confirmed victim losses exceeding $50 million. In Canada, the CRA version of this scam costs Canadians tens of millions every year through the same playbook.

The most common version right now is the SSN suspension scam. It starts with a robocall: "Your Social Security Number has been suspended due to suspicious activity." Press 1, and you reach a live "agent" who already knows your name and the last four digits of your SSN — scraped from old data breaches. They claim a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The only way to fix it? Pay immediately with gift cards, direct bank-to-bank money transfers (wire transfers), or digital currency (cryptocurrency). They keep you on the phone while you drive to the store, buy the cards, and read the numbers back. One victim lost $20,000 in a single session this way.

Gift cards are the payment method of choice — and the biggest warning sign. Scammers favour Apple and iTunes cards, Google Play, Amazon, Green Dot MoneyPak, and Steam Wallet cards. The DOJ prosecuted a $9 million IRS impersonation ring that ran call centres in India, routing thousands of calls daily to American victims. Money mules in the U.S. converted payments into gift cards and wire transfers. No government agency — not the IRS, not the CRA, not the RCMP — will ever ask you to pay with gift cards.

AI is making these calls harder to spot. Voice cloning attacks jumped 400% between 2023 and 2025. Scammers can now replicate an IRS agent's tone using publicly available audio clips — or clone a family member's voice for follow-up "emergency" calls tied to fake tax fraud claims. It takes as little as 3 seconds of audio to create a convincing clone, and 70% of people cannot tell the difference.

For reference, the real IRS process begins with mail. Initial contact always comes through a CP notice — a physical letter mailed to your address. The CP5071C letter handles identity verification. You can check your balance and payments at IRS.gov through your online account. The IRS will never call demanding immediate payment, threaten arrest or deportation, request gift cards or crypto, or ask for credit card numbers over the phone. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is reachable at 1-877-777-4778. In Canada, the CRA follows the same pattern — first contact is through My Account or physical mail, never a threatening phone call.

If you have already been targeted: report to TIGTA at 1-800-366-4484 or tigta.gov. File a report at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Submit IRS Form 14039 — the Identity Theft Affidavit. Contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490. Place credit freezes with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. File a police report. Request an IP PIN from the IRS for future filing protection. In Canada, report to the CAFC at 1-888-495-8501 and contact the CRA directly through your My Account. The scammers are professionals — getting caught does not make you careless. It makes you their target.

Editorial note: This article reflects the state of publicly available information at the time of writing. Business practices, ownership, and safety records change over time. TrustChekr is not affiliated with any company reviewed here and does not receive payment for editorial coverage. Verdicts are based on documented evidence and are subject to revision.