Full Notification

The Sonoma Police Department would like to advise residents of the Sonoma Valley of an ongoing telephone scam from person(s) claiming to be from the IRS. In the most recent telephone call, a citizen reported that the person claimed that the IRS had issued a warrant for their arrest and provided a copy of the false warrant. The citizen was threatened with arrest if an immediate payment was not made to a provided bank account number.

These calls are not legitimate and are a growing trend in an attempt to fraudulently obtain money from the victims.

The IRS will not:
• Call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call you if you owe taxes without first sending you a bill in the mail.
• Demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount you owe.
• Require that you pay your taxes a certain way. For instance, require that you pay with a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying.

If you receive a call similar to this do not give the caller any information and hang up immediately. Do not send or deposit any money to these individuals.

For more information, visit “Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts” on IRS.gov.