The fact that you answered the phone and were willing to engage? That's valuable to scammers who might try it again later - or sell your number to the highest bidder. Key bits of information about you may be stored, repackaged and sold from one scammer to the next. Your data typically isn't getting stolen in one fell swoop: your identity profile is being put together piece by piece. Remember that identity theft isn't just about getting money out of you one time or stealing a tax refund check, it's an entire industry. Why does this matter? Because stealing money from taxpayers is only one part of the equation. When you engage with a scammer - even if you are blowing a whistle in the phone - you've just confirmed two pieces of information for the scammers: they've called a working phone number AND you'll answer the phone.Why not? Here are six reasons why those tips don't work and why you should never engage with scammers: Many of those same pieces of advice are being re-posted as though they might be effective. The advice ranges from blowing whistles in the phone to trying to "catch" the scammers at their own game by challenging their questions. Many of these same taxpayers have posted tips on Facebook and other social media for dealing with scammers.
And while some of the scammers have been convincing enough to steal over $36.5 million from nearly 6,400 victims in the past couple of years - the biggest scam of its type - many taxpayers have been able to determine that the calls are a scam and have not become victims.
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