Local police are issuing a warning to residents about a phone scam after several area people received suspicious phone calls.
Last week, the Green Springs Police Department received a number of calls reporting getting calls from the Internal Revenue Service stating that they were going to arrest or sue individuals if they do not pay the agency money.
“We had five elderly residents in the village call us last Tuesday,” Green Springs Police Chief Charles Horne said. “We go through spurts to where it seems like whomever is calling is just hitting our area. I saw that Bellevue had similar reports the same day.”
Some residents in Clyde also claimed to have received similar calls, but Clyde Police Chief Bruce Gower said the department didn’t see a spike in reports from residents.
“That doesn’t mean that they weren’t calling people in Clyde,” Gower said. “That just means that people didn’t call to report it. They probably just hung up when they realized the call was a scam.”
According to the IRS, such calls are becoming more and more common. The callers pose as IRS officials and use threats and bully a victim into paying.
Scammers also often alter caller ID to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. The scammers are also trying new tricks all the time, according to the IRS.
None of the people who reported the calls in Green Springs gave out their information, according to Horne.
“None of the people who contacted us gave out any personal information,” he said. “They all were able to realize it was a scam and then reported it to us.”
Horne also gave some advice to area residents if they should receive a call they feel is suspicious.
“Never give them any personal information over the phone. If someone calls you with a cold call that you didn’t set up, never give them any personal information.”
Gower goes a step further with his advice.
“Just hang up on them,” he said. “The IRS does not make phone calls like that. They don’t need you to give them your information; they already have all of that. They probably know more about you than you know yourself, at times.”
According to the IRS, the agency will not call to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call about owed taxes without first sending a bill in the mail.
The IRS will also not demand payment and not allow the person to question or appeal the amount owed, require the taxes be paid a certain way, ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or threaten to bring in police or other agencies to make an arrest for not paying.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has received reports of about 736,000 scam contacts since October 2013, according to the IRS. Nearly 4,550 victims have collectively paid over $23 million as a result of the scam.
