Despite being illegal in most cases, automated telephone calling, or "Robocalling" has increased dramatically in recent years, mostly due to lack of oversight, and action by the FCC and its horrible, hands-off director Ajit Pai. As such, New Yorkers can expect to receive many calls this tax season like this one that attempts to get your social security number. As a reminder, an employee of the IRS or New York Department of Taxation and Finance will never give you a phone call. Most New Yorkers already know this, but many do not, hence, an opportunity for scammers. Here's how the scam works:
- Scammer issues a robocall to a target, claiming that the target is in some sort of tax/financial trouble.
- Target responds to phone call and provides private information to verify their identity.
- Scammer now has private information of target, used to steal identity, open credit cards, etc...
The scammer will often issue these robocalls to hundreds of thousands of stolen phone numbers for a very low cost. It only takes a few responses to make it worthwhile, which is why they do it. If you receive a call like this, immediately hang up. A good way to avoid the calls completely is to use an app that will help you to filter out unwanted calls, such as Robokiller for iOS and Android.
