Fraud ring hits Lincoln County residents
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office dispatch line received more than two dozen reports from area residents late last week regarding telephone calls from individuals claiming to be agents of the Internal Revenue Service demanding money, as well as personal, financial and banking information. The calls, said I.R.S. spokesman Bill Brunson, are a scam and residents should hang up and report them.
“If you get one of these calls from a tax scammer, don’t engage,” he said. “Just hang up.”
Brunson, part of the agency’s media relations office in Phoenix, Ariz., said the phone scams have really stepped up in recent months.
“Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating I.R.S. agents remains an ongoing threat to taxpayers,” he said. “The I.R.S. has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent months as scam artists threaten police arrest, deportation, license revocation and other things.”
In addition to reporting the calls to local law enforcement, Brunson encourages people to warn people in their personal networks about the scam.
“I would say tell anyone and everyone,” he said. “Spread the information far and wide to warn people about this scam.”
Cases of impersonation of an I.R.S. agent fall under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, whose office has seen hundreds of thousands of cases during the past two years. A press release issued earlier this year noted reports of 290,000 contacts from scammers since Oct. 2013, from which some 3,000 victims were scammed out of more than $14 million.
“It is critical that all taxpayers continue to be wary of unsolicited telephone calls from individuals claiming to be I.R.S. employees,” said Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George. “This scam, which is international in nature, has proven to be the largest scam of its kind that we have ever seen. The callers are aggressive, they are relentless and they are ruthless. Once they have your attention, they will say anything to con you out of your hard-earned cash.”
Brunson cautioned people not to fall for the lies. Legitimate agents of the Internal Revenue Service will not threaten to call law enforcement in order to secure immediate payment. They will not threaten or abuse residents who ask for verification of identity.
“The I.R.S. usually first contacts people by mail – not by phone – about unpaid taxes,” George said. “And the I.R.S. won’t ask for payment using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. The I.R.S. also won’t ask for a credit card number over the phone. If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the I.R.S. and uses threatening language if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the I.R.S. calling.”
People who receive calls claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service should record the caller’s name, badge number and call-back number. If available, caller ID is also very helpful. The agency has a direct line at 1-800-366-4484 people can call to determine if the caller was actually an I.R.S. employee with a legitimade need to contact them.
The callers sometimes have the ability to spoof caller ID, making it seem as if the call is coming from a legitimate I.R.S. number. They also give out fake badge numbers and send bogus emails and sometimes follow up with similar fake police or department of motor vehicles calls to help support the scam.
Residents are encouraged to report any fraudulent contacts to the Treasury Inspector General’s Office at 1-800-366-4484. Reports may also be submitted online at https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml.
Inspector General George reiterated Brunson’s warning for people to not engage with the callers.
“This is a crime of opportunity,” he said. “so the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to take away the opportunity. Do not engage with these callers. If they call you, hang up the telephone.”