HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Police say they’ve been receiving calls about a scam from local residents.
An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.
Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a preloaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.
Victims may also be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information.
If the phone isn’t answered, the scammers often leave an “urgent” callback request.
Note that the IRS will never call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill. They will never demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe and they never require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes such as a prepaid debit card. The IRS will not ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
Here is some more info from Hutchinson Police
For more details on this ongoing scam, see:
•IR-2014-105, Scam Phone Calls Continue; IRS Unveils New Video to Warn Taxpayers
•Special Edition Tax Tip 2014-18, Five Easy Ways to Spot a Scam Phone Call
•IR-2014-84, Scam Phone Calls Continue; IRS Identifies Five Easy Ways to Spot Suspicious Calls
•IR-2014-81, IRS Repeats Warning about Phone Scams
•Special Edition Tax Tip 2014-17, IRS Updates Phone Scams Warning
•IR-2014-53, IRS Reiterates Warning of Pervasive Telephone Scam
•Special Edition Tax Tip 2014-10, IRS Renews Phone Scam Warning
•IR-2013-84, IRS Warns of Pervasive Telephone Scam