The Internal Revenue Service may indeed be interested in getting more of your money, but, according to a recent public statement, issuing threatening phone calls to those who owe taxes isn't how the agency works.

That's why the IRS had issued an updated consumer alert about an ongoing criminal operation in which telephone scammers call taxpayers and pretend to be with the IRS.

"These callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling," the release reads.

The scam artists reportedly use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers -- if, often, someone doesn't immediately answer their calls, they leave supposedly "urgent" callback requests.

"These telephone scams are being seen in every part of the country, and we urge people not to be deceived by these threatening phone calls," IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. "We have formal processes in place for people with tax issues. The IRS respects taxpayer rights, and these angry, shake-down calls are not how we do business."

The IRS has created a list of five surefire ways to know whether or not a phone caller identifying themselves with the IRS is fake or not The IRS says its representatives will never:

  • Call about owed taxes without first mailing an official notice;
  • Demand a tax payment without providing the opportunity to question or appeal the amount supposedly owed;
  • Require taxpayers to use a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card;
  • Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone;
  • Threaten to call in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

That said, if a taxpayer gets a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, they should do the following:

  1. If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.
  2. If you know you don't owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov.
  3. If you've been targeted by this scam, also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their "FTC Complaint Assistant" at FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.

The IRS assures taxpayers that it does not use unsolicited email, text messages or any social media to discuss personal tax issue.

More information on reporting tax scams is available online visiting www.irs.gov and then typing "scam" in the search box.