Owing back taxes is scary, and the ads know it. They promise to settle your tax debt for "pennies on the dollar," erase penalties, and stop the IRS cold. All you have to do is pay them first.

On August 13 the FTC warned about tax debt relief companies that charge hefty upfront fees, promise results they cannot deliver, and sometimes send mailers designed to look like government notices threatening to seize your property. The FTC recently settled with one of these operations, American Tax Service, for nearly $10 million. The truth is simple: only the IRS or your state's revenue department decides what relief you qualify for. A company cannot promise you a deal before anyone has even looked at your case.

The rule: Anyone who guarantees to shrink your tax bill, or wants a big fee up front, is a scammer. If you owe, contact the IRS directly or the free Taxpayer Advocate Service, and report tax relief scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Source: FTC: Struggling with tax debt? Here's what to know

The call starts somewhere harmless: your bank, a big retailer, a fraud department. There's a problem with your account, they say. Then comes the helpful offer: "Let me transfer you to Social Security."

The Social Security Administration's Inspector General warns that scammers are staging these fake call transfers. The second "official" claims your Social Security number was compromised, then pressures you to verify personal information, pay to "protect" your number, or move your money somewhere "safe." The transfer is theater. Both callers are scammers, and real companies cannot transfer you to SSA at all. Real SSA employees will never threaten you, demand secrecy, or ask you to move money. And caller ID cannot be trusted, because scammers can fake any number.

The rule: If a call gets "transferred" to Social Security, hang up. Call SSA yourself at a number you looked up, and report the scam at ssa.gov/scam.

Source: SSA OIG: Beware of Fake "Call Transfers" to Social Security or OIG

If you drove or ordered food through Grubhub, check your mailbox. On August 12 the FTC began sending more than $23.8 million to 640,038 people harmed by the company: drivers misled about how much they would earn, diners locked out of accounts holding their money, and restaurants listed on the platform without permission.

Here's why this matters even if you never used Grubhub. Whenever real refunds go out, scammers follow, calling and emailing "winners" and asking for a processing fee or bank details to release the money. The FTC never does that. Real checks arrive unsolicited and cost nothing to cash. Grubhub checks should be cashed within 90 days, and PayPal payments redeemed within 30 days.

The rule: A real refund never charges a fee. If someone wants money or account numbers to "release" your payment, it's a scam. Questions about this refund go to the administrator at 1-888-446-4992.

Source: FTC Sends More than $23.8 Million to Drivers and Diners Harmed by Grubhub's Deceptive Advertising Claims and Other Unlawful Conduct

Your tax preparer's inbox holds your Social Security number, your income, your bank accounts. Scammers know it, and right now they are fishing for it.

On August 4 the IRS and its Security Summit partners warned that criminals are flooding tax professionals with phishing emails: fake "new client" inquiries with poisoned attachments, cloned copies of real emails with the safe link swapped for a malicious one, and urgent messages from lookalike addresses (think "irs.com" instead of the real irs.gov). One click can hand over an entire office's worth of client files. The same tricks land in your inbox too, and the same defenses work: slow down, check the sender's address letter by letter, and never open an attachment you weren't expecting.

The rule: Treat urgency as a warning sign, not a reason to click. And it is fair to ask your tax preparer a simple question: do you use multi-factor authentication?

Source: IRS: Security Summit warns tax pros to watch out for phishing emails and other attacks