Full Notification

The Signal Hill Police Department would like residents and business owners to be aware about possible IRS scams.  The IRS does NOT initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text message, or social media channels to request personal or financial information.  This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords, or similar access information for credit cards, banks, or other financial accounts.

Criminals may attempt to obtain your personal or financial information through "Phishing".  Phishing is a scam typically carried out through unsolicited email(s) and/or websites that pose as legitimate sites and lure unsuspecting victims to provide their personal or financial information.

Additionally, criminals have made aggressive and threatening phone calls impersonating IRS agents.  They often threaten police arrest, deportation, or license revocation.  In some cases, they have even set up schemes saying you may be entitled to a huge refund.

In January 2016, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration announced that they have received reports of roughly 896,000 fraudulent contacts since October 2013 and have become aware of over 5,000 victims who have collectively paid over $26.5  million as a result of the scam.

Protect Yourself-

Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will NOT do.  Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam.

The IRS will never:

- call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency 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 they say you owe.

- require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a pre-paid 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.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and suspect fraud, please call SHPD @ 562-989-7200 or the IRS @ 800-829-1040.