Full Notification

It is tax season and along with the headache of gathering records and filing our returns, there is the added nuisance of phone scammers claiming to be IRS agents. These scammers often know your name and have your phone number from open source data on the internet. They will usually tell you that you owe back taxes and that if you do not make a payment over the phone in a very short time (usually within a few hours) then the police will come to arrest you.

Understand this: THE IRS WILL NEVER CONTACT YOU BY PHONE REGARDING DELINQUENT TAXES, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS DO NOT CALL AND THREATEN TO COME TO SOMEONE'S HOUSE TO MAKE AN ARREST.

Other scammers claim to be from your credit card company or a utility company.

If you are not sure whether or not the call is legitimate, the best way to know for sure is to get the information and a call back number, and advise the caller that you will call the company or agency back. DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER GIVEN TO YOU BY THE CALLER. Find the number for that company or agency independently either by looking it up on the internet, in a phone book, on an old bill, and call the entity back using the number you find. This is the best way to determine if the call was legitimate or not. If you are still in doubt, do not hesitate to contact the police department and ask for our assistance.

Many times these scammers are calling from overseas or other states. The number of criminals engaged in this sort of activity and their location in other states or countries makes apprehension and enforcement unlikely. Scammers will often target the elderly, so please have a conversation with your elderly relatives and help prevent them from becoming victims.

Information from the Internal Revenue Service website:

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what 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 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.

•You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.

If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the on-duty officer at the Blissfield Police Department during normal business hours at 517-486-4340, or after hours through the Lenawee County Sheriff's Department Dispatch Center at 517-263-0524.

Thank you.

Blissfield Police Department