Full Notification

Bloomington - The Indiana State Police are warning Hoosiers of a lingering scam that has unfortunately stayed in Indiana. The latest scam circulating involves individuals calling potential victims claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. The caller explains to the victim that money is owed to the Internal Revenue Service and that if it isn’t payed, they would be arrested.

Rest assured the Internal Revenue Service is not calling residents about their unpaid taxes.

Officials are investigating a particular phone scam involving IRS impersonators who demand immediate payments with pre-paid debit cards and wire transfers. The caller often claims the victim owes thousands of dollars in overdue taxes. According to the IRS, the agency would always make contact with the taxpayer first by mail or with a personal visit. 

The scam continues when the impersonator tells the victim he cannot use standard forms of payment, specifically a credit card to pay the taxes. The caller tries to justify why the money has to be wired to a PayPal account or paid using a prepaid debit card. If the caller is unsuccessful talking to the victim the scammer will then threaten the victim with an arrest warrant.

The IRS doesn’t have the authority to issue warrants. 

As with most scams, the calls are originating from cell phones or over the internet from all over the country. Tracking down this 21st century con artist is no easy task. As defined by TechTarget, caller ID spoofing is a technology that allows a caller to masquerade as someone else by falsifying the number that appears on the recipient’s Caller ID display. Just as email spoofing can make it appear that a message came from any email address the sender chooses, Caller ID Spoofing can make a call appear to come from any phone number the caller wishes, including the Internal Revenue Service. The Indiana State Police feel that a well informed public is the best defense in combating scammers and remind everyone that these phone scams and cyber crimes are becoming commonplace. 

      The IRS will never;

·        Call to demand immediate payment, nor will they call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.

·        Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.

·        Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.

·        Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

·        Threaten to bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

The Indiana State Police would like to remind everyone to;

·        Call the IRS directly at 800-829-1049 

·        Or visit http://www.irs.gov/    

Also, if you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484 or on the web at:

 http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

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