0:00 one of the most malicious and heartless 0:03 tax scams is called the refund and 0:05 Recovery scam this one is especially 0:08 painful because the targets are 0:10 individuals who have already been 0:12 victimized in a previous scam 0:14 here's how it works 0:16 someone contacts you promising to help 0:18 you recoup the money you lost but you 0:21 must pay them first 0:23 this payment is referred to as a 0:25 retainer fee or processing fee 0:28 scammers keep and share lists of people 0:30 who have already been tricked by scans 0:33 this list includes information like your 0:35 name address the type of scam used and 0:38 how much money you lost 0:40 so when a scammer contacts you they're 0:42 familiar with your situation and make 0:44 you think you can trust them but once 0:47 you pay the money that person disappears 0:50 and you're out even more money than you 0:52 were before 0:53 if you've been targeted by an IRS scam 0:55 the first step you should take is to 0:57 report it 0:58 you can report tax scams to the IRS by 1:01 forwarding the communication to phishing 1:03 with the pH at irs.gov 1:06 and for more information about scams 1:07 visit uspis.gov