Beware of possible IRS scam

Richmond Police detectives are warning citizens about a scam in which callers are posing as agents of the Internal Revenue Service who claim to be collecting overdue taxes.

June 2, 2016; 10:08 AM • by Richard Hayes

From RPD:

Richmond Police detectives are warning citizens about a scam in which callers are posing as agents of the Internal Revenue Service who claim to be collecting overdue taxes.

During the past week, detectives have been alerted to a few occurrences of this scam. Scammers impersonating IRS agents contact a citizen and state they are calling about an outstanding tax bill.

“In the cases we’ve seen, the caller has typically had some piece of personal information, such as a social security number, to attempt to make the call appear more legitimate,” said Fourth Precinct Sergeant Brian Prendergast.

Credit card or bank account numbers are requested by the caller to settle the supposed outstanding debt. In an effort to intimidate the victim into sending money, the caller will threaten the victim with arrest or jail time.

Of the reports made to the Richmond Police Department, none of the individuals contacted provided any money to the callers who contacted them.

According to the IRS website, the agency will never call to demand immediate payment without mailing a bill first, ask for a credit card or bank account number over the phone, or threaten to involve law enforcement.

Anyone who believes they have been the victim of this or any other scam is asked to call the Richmond Police non-emergency line at 646-5100 to file a police report.

IRS scams should also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant and to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration using the IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting website.