IRS warns about back tax phone scams targeting taxpayers

IRS tax scam calls are on the rise. Learn how to identify fake calls about back taxes and what to do if you get one.

The phone call sounds alarming. You owe back taxes and need to settle them quickly.

The call will be from the “Tax Mediation and Resolution Agency,” or the “Tax Resolution Oversight Department,” or some other official-sounding office.

They don't exist.

"We’re seeing a big wave of reports about phone scams claiming you owe back taxes," a Federal Trade Commission consumer alert said. "But it’s not the IRS calling, it’s a scammer."

Know this, first of all: the first contact from the IRS about any issue, even back taxes, will always come by U.S. mail, never by phone or text message.