Internal Revenue Service has issued a warning against the ongoing scam phone calls. David Tucker, IRS Seattle spokesman, clarified that the calls are not from IRS, but instead some fraud scammers, who are calling taxpayers and are demanding money for them or asking for some personal information.

Some callers have even threatened people if they don't meet the demands, they could face arrest.

The IRS has provided taxpayers with five easy guidelines to judge whether the call is a genuine one or not. The guidelines state that it is spam call if:

" The person is directly asking you about the taxes that you owe without prior mailing you an official notice

" If you have been asked to pay taxes straight away without been given a chance to question or appeal about the amount it says you owe.

" You have been asked for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

" Threaten you of a possible arrest.

Till now, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has identified nearly 1,100 victims in total who have in all lost an estimated $5 million from these scams.

Speaking on the matter, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said, "Taxpayers should remember that IRS will not be a call from out of the blue, but through official correspondence sent through the mail. A big red flag for these scams are calls from people who say they are from the IRS and urge immediate payment".

He advised people that in case they detect that they have received such a call then they should hang up immediately and contact TIGTA or call the IRS at 800-829-1040.

These scammers are clever enough to use fake names and IRS badge numbers. Besides this, they may also be able to recite the last four digits of a victim's Social Security number.