MOLINE- The IRS has made a big change to how they go after people owing back taxes. The agency's warned about people imitating IRS employees to steal people's money, but it could now be harder to tell if you're being scammed too.
Millions of Americans have heard the threat from scammers claiming to be from the IRS. For years, the IRS has warned against callers demanding money, saying the IRS doesn't do that. If you're at all behind on your taxes, the IRS will have a private company call you, this spring.
This is part of a new program where debt collectors have been hired by the IRS to chase down long overdue taxes that the IRS can't get to. A new law enacted by Congress in 2015, requires the IRS to hire debt collectors to help pay for new roads, but these new contracts could cause a spike in scam calls.
Here are the four companies that have been contracted by the IRS:
CBE Group out of Cedar Falls, Iowa; Conserve out of Fairport, Kentucky; Performant out of Livermore, California; and Pioneer out Horseheads, New York.
The IRS will contact you multiple times in writing before you're ever called by contractors. You won't hear from a private collector unless you have multiple years of overdue taxes and all payments will be made to the IRS, not the contracted company.