Your millennial child, who may be new to filing taxes, might be fooled by the threatening voice from someone who claims to be an Internal Revenue Service agent. And he or she might not always realize the importance of basic stuff such as eyeballing billing statements or asking questions when something doesn’t completely pass the smell test.

With that in mind, here are some scams and consumer traps to avoid. These are personal examples that have landed in my voice mail, email and even snail mail since the start of the new year. I expect more.

Phony IRS agents: The 2018 tax-filing season got under way in late January, meaning the tax scam season is here too.

Don’t be fooled by fake IRS calls from scammers pretending to be federal tax agents looking to scare people into sending them money for fictitious bills.

My wife recently received four calls on her cell phone from “officer Ryan Smith of the IRS,” who said in his recorded message that we “were under federal investigation for fraud and unethical practices found in a tax audit.” He advised us not to “disregard this message or it may be taken as an offense.”

The IRS does not make such notifications via phone calls, nor does it make threats or demands. Instead, the IRS sends a letter of a potential tax issue — and a very straightforward, polite letter at that. Disregard the phone call and notify the IRS or local police department.

Magazine subscription overload: Even with the decline of print products, magazine subscription scams still generate a lot of complaints to law enforcement. Some scams involve being charged for magazines that you did not buy or a six-year subscription the company refuses to cancel.

In addition, be careful about signing up for deals offered by an independent, third-party subscription sales company.

Keep track of subscription offers, especially renewals. Don’t automatically write a check or authorize a credit card purchase.

Service protection plans: It started with a $110 charge on our credit card for a computer virus protection update from McAfee. But my wife and I didn’t remember authorizing the charge, and we certainly didn’t remember giving the company permission to automatically charge our credit card annually for an eternity. But that’s what the company claimed, until we complained.

Check your monthly credit card statement and challenge anything that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t look right. Consumers don’t have to pay for things they did not order or do not want. Call your credit card company, especially if you don’t get satisfaction from the business that you supposedly ordered from.

Be wary of buying direct: What started as an online purchase of headphones for a Christmas gift has turned into a war of attrition as we try to get a refund. Our mistake: placing the order directly from the manufacturer’s website, in this case Samsung, rather than buying from a retailer.

Because the product was defective, Samsung told us that in order to get a refund we had to first return the item and then purchase a new one, which led to a second charge. We also wanted to receive the discount from the original purchase. It’s been almost a month since the defective item was returned and the replacement product mailed out, but still no refund.

You might get a better return and refund experience from an electronics retailer or other chain store, where you can simply walk in and head to the return desk.

Open your mail: Sometimes good stuff still arrives the old-fashioned way.

Recently I received a class-action settlement notice. The notification included a $25 check, but I almost didn’t bother opening the envelope because it looked like a piece of junk mail.

Questions, comments, column ideas?

Send an email to sbrosen1030@gmail.com.