Amid Tax Season, Thousands Hit By Massive Scam

03:30

March 13, 2015

At the height of tax season, we got word yesterday that more than 3,000 people in the U.S. have fallen for tax scams since 2013, costing them a total of $15.5 million.

While 3,000 people lost money, a much larger number - more than 300,000 people - were targeted by the scam. Many of them received harassing phone calls from fake IRS agents demanding payments, including Timothy Camus, the deputy inspector general for investigations at the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Camus testified on IRS scams at a Senate Finance Committee hearing yesterday that also looked into into what websites like TurboTax can do to prevent fraud.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks to Michael Regan of Bloomberg News about the scam and the consequences.

See more information about the tax scams

Guest

Michael Regan, editor-at-large for Bloomberg News. He tweets @Reganonymous.

This segment aired on March 13, 2015.