{"id":29284,"date":"2026-10-25T15:02:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/is-it-really-the-irs-scam-red-flags-infographic\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T15:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:02:42","slug":"is-it-really-the-irs-scam-red-flags-infographic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/is-it-really-the-irs-scam-red-flags-infographic\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Really the IRS? Five Scam Red Flags (Infographic)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most people I talk to about their IRS problem have already built the worst-case scenario in their head. The reality is usually much more manageable. I&#039;m Darrin Mish, and I&#039;ve been representing taxpayers before the IRS for 32 years. Here&#039;s what actually tends to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Tax attorney Darrin Mish put this one-page guide together from official sources. Save it, print it or share it with someone who needs it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags.png\" alt=\"Is it really the IRS? Infographic from tax attorney Darrin Mish.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"2178\" class=\"wp-image-29283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags.png 1080w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags-149x300.png 149w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags-508x1024.png 508w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags-768x1549.png 768w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags-762x1536.png 762w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/scam-red-flags-1016x2048.png 1016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2>What the infographic says<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Is it really the IRS?<\/strong> The IRS says a call, email or text is not from the IRS if it does any of the first five things below.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It comes out of the blue.<\/strong> The contact is unexpected.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It rushes you.<\/strong> You are pushed to act right now.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It threatens you.<\/strong> Scammers threaten arrest or deportation and won&#x27;t let you question or appeal the amount.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It asks for personal or financial information.<\/strong> Do not give it out to an unexpected caller, email or text.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It demands payment now.<\/strong> Impersonators want you to pay &quot;now or else.&quot;<\/li>\n<li><strong>How the IRS really contacts you.<\/strong> First contact is normally a letter by U.S. mail. The IRS emails or texts only if you opted in. A social media direct message is never from the IRS.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If someone shows up at your door.<\/strong> Visits are rare, and a letter usually comes first. Revenue officers and agents carry two IRS IDs you can ask to see.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Got a fake IRS email?.<\/strong> Don&#x27;t click links or open attachments. Send it to phishing@irs.gov, then delete it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/how-to-know-its-the-irs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/how-to-know-its-the-irs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/tax-scams\/recognize-tax-scams-and-fraud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/tax-scams\/recognize-tax-scams-and-fraud<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/report-fraud\/report-fake-irs-treasury-or-tax-related-emails-and-messages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/report-fraud\/report-fake-irs-treasury-or-tax-related-emails-and-messages<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Checked October 2026.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a question about your own situation, call tax attorney Darrin Mish at (813) 229-7100.<\/p>\n<p><em>Attorney advertising. General information, not legal advice. Every case is different; follow the instructions and deadlines on your own notice.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it really the IRS? Infographic from tax attorney Darrin Mish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_linkwrite_keywords":"","_linkwrite_no_autolink":false,"_linkwrite_no_inbound":false,"_linkwrite_exclude":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irs-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29285,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29284\/revisions\/29285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}