The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is once again asking the
public to beware of an Internal Revenue Service telephone scam targeting
taxpayers.
CCSO continues to
field calls from residents who said they received a phone call telling them
they owe back taxes that must be paid immediately to the IRS, said Lt. Chad
Parker of the sheriff’s Financial Crimes Bureau.
The scammers spoof
the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS
calling and threaten potential victims with arrest or revocation of their
driver’s license, he said.
“They scare people into providing credit card numbers or
making some kind of payment immediately,” Lt. Parker said.
CCSO reminds people
that the IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due
via the U.S. mail.
The IRS never asks
for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.
Other characteristics
of this scam may include:
• Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
• Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
• Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a
victim’s Social Security number.
• Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims
to support their bogus calls.
• When unsuccessful the first time sometimes phone scammers
call back trying a different strategy.
• Victims hear background noise of other calls being
conducted to mimic a call site.
• After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s
license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be
from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.
If you get a phone
call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what the IRS advises you
should do:
• If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue, if there really is such an issue.
• If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue, if there really is such an issue.
• If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think
that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller
made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident
to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484.
• If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also
contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at
FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your
complaint.
The IRS does not
initiate contact with taxpayers by e-mail to request personal or financial
information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text
messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask for PINs,
passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or
other financial accounts.
Recipients should not open any attachments or click on any
links contained in the message. Instead, forward the e-mail to
phishing@irs.gov.
CCSO encourages
residents to be vigilant against phone and e-mail scams. For assistance with
any suspicious encounter involving a request for money or personal information,
contact the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s Call Before You “Pay” hotline –
(239) 252-CALL (2255). The hotline is staffed by a CCSO deputy in the Financial
Crimes Bureau between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
