A friend got a phone call the other day from someone claiming to represent the Internal Revenue Service.

"There seems to be a serious irregularity in your tax records. It is imperative that you call us to try to straighten it out," the caller said, and presented a Washington-area phone number.

Fortunately, our friend called this office before calling Washington, and we assured her the call was a fake.

These phone scams top the IRS list of tax scams that try to scare taxpayers into thinking they owe taxes and getting them to reveal personal information or to send cash.

Hundreds of thousands of these calls have been reported, and the aggressive callers use threats of arrest, seizures of assets and worse.

Remember this: If the IRS thinks that you owe taxes, they will always mail a bill, and will never demand immediate payment before giving you an opportunity to question or appeal the amount you supposedly owe. Nor will they ask for a credit card number over the phone or specify a payment method such as a prepaid debit card (a favorite of the scammers).

The IRS also alerts taxpayers to "phishing," email scams trying to hook some personal information. The IRS does not use e-mail regarding tax information.

For nearly 30 years, Mike Nickerson has owned and managed a small, full-service accounting practice in the Midcoast. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Southern Main and a master's degree in financial planning from Bentley University. He is a past board member and president of the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants and currently serves on the Maine Board of Accountancy.

An aged rock musician, Nickerson now finds musical enjoyment playing upright and electric bass in a variety of bands spanning folk to jazz music genres. He and his wife have three grown children, and they enjoy their free time hiking, kayaking, golfing, bicycling and motorcycling.

nickersonpa.com