The Evesham Police Department recently handled a number of complaints in reference to an IRS phone scam. The suspect has been described as a male with a strong Indian accent.
The Evesham Police have provided the following message from the IRS:
This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country.
The IRS does not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer.
If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation for those who don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.
Other characteristics of this scam include:
–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 spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.
–Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
–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.
For those who have received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what they should do:
– For those who owe taxes or think they might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1 (800) 829–1040. The IRS employees at that line can help with a payment issue — if there really is such an issue.
–For those who don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that they owe any taxes, then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1 (800) 366–4484.
Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email 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 tophishing@irs.gov.
