With the Internal Revenue Service tax deadline less than two weeks away, those who have not paid their 2016 taxes — and those who have — are perplexed by supposed IRS calls saying they owe money.

“IRS scams are in full swing,” said Capt. Steven Jones, public information officer for the Thomas County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office.

In addition to existing email, text and social media-based tax scams that have affected a number of American taxpayers in recent years, fake IRS calls grow more prevalent nationwide as the department restarts its debt collection phone call efforts.

In Georgia, Jones received three IRS scam phone calls in one day on his personal phone.

“Beware of any phone calls allegedly from the IRS,” Jones said. “They are a scam.”

During scam calls, the IRS reports, victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. During such calls, victims may be threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. Victims may also be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information. The IRS notes that if the phone isn’t answered, the scammers will often leave an “urgent” callback request. 

While the IRS warned last year that “aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers,” the 2017 filing season marks the return of legitimate calls that could be ignored — with potentially serious consequences for those filing their taxes.

According to reports, the IRS stopped using private debt collectors eight years ago after deciding that internal employees could handle the collections. However, in 2015, Congress passed a law that requires the IRS to employ the use of private collection calls to recover taxpayer debts.

The IRS maintains that while private debt collection calls will resume, taxpayers affected by this change will be notified of their accounts being turned over to outsourced debt collectors.

When it comes to recognizing scam calls, Jones warned that anyone receiving a call should not reply or provide any information or money orders, money grams or any other form of payment to anyone saying they are with the IRS.

The IRS typically first communicates via mail, not phone calls.

“If you have any contact from anyone saying they are from the IRS, hang up,” Jones advised.

The officer said those with doubts about an IRS attempt to reach them should go to the IRS website, locate a phone number and call the IRS directly.

The Thomasville, Georgia Times-Enterprise contributed details to this story.