PALMDALE – Palmdale Sheriff’s detectives are warning the public about a national scam that has been targeting residents in the Antelope Valley.
It starts with a phone call from a scammer pretending to be an employee of the Tax and Audit Department of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Victims are told the IRS has a claim against them for foreign tax evasion and they must pay immediately through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. Victims who refuse to cooperate are threatened with arrest or deportation. In some cases, the caller becomes hostile and offensive.
“We ask the public to be extremely careful if you receive a phone call asking for any type of payment over the phone,” stated Palmdale Community Relations Deputy Jodi Wolfe. “According to the IRS website, IRS employees ‘will not ask for credit cards numbers over the phone nor request a pre-paid debit or wire transfer.’ If you have any hesitation, questions or concerns, hang up the phone and call the IRS directly.”
Below are tips from the IRS website on what you should do if you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS:
- If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. IRS employees 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), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484. To file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant, choose “Other” and then “Impostor Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
Visit www.irs.gov for additional information on how to avoid becoming a victim in the future.
[Information via news release from the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.]
Bruce Dawning says
Just got an IRS call from 310-362-4433 yesterday and now I found reports filed at http://www.whycall.me/310-362-4433.html just several hours ago. I think these scammers are really persistent. Whatever we have done to stop them doesn’t work. I think the best way to avoid them for now is just never answer our phone to strangers!
vanesa says
I got a call but they sed i had a warrant nd needed to pay them by a vons pharmacy closet to me with a green dot card. Very off. Nd it was a scam
Just Saying says
You can check on strange phone numbers with the website 800notes.com. There are reports on all kinds of phone numbers, not just 800 numbers, and you can add your experience with a number as well. Be aware that scam callers often “spoof” the caller ID number you see, so it may not be from the area code you see. Out of the country callers often do this to try to fool you into thinking it is a call from inside the US. The “Do not call” list is useless on out of the country calls because it is too difficult to prosecute them for either calling, or for whatever they scam you out of.
Tim Scott says
The do not call list is a dead play. You have to renew it so frequently that by the time you are processed on to it you are expired. When they first started it the expiration was five years, but “because a new user might get a phone number that was blocked by the previous user and MISS OUT on the great offers” the renewal interval was cut way down. Of course the cynical person might think that payoffs were involved rather than complaints from people who got a new to them phone number and “missed out,” but that’s just cynicism.
S,Ronay says
Yes I gotta call like that and it was not fun at all I called the IRS and they told me they would never do that .that it is done my t they rarely call people on the phone
Tim Scott says
I got a call like that and thought it was hilarious.
They wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t working though…which is scary.
Joyce says
I have received 2 phone calls from this scam, I really feel sorry for the elderly who are being fooled by these idiots.
Betty says
I haven’t heard of this scam but I have been getting phone calls from people who say that I have been selected to receive $9,000 from the U.S. government. They barely speak English . I asked to speak to a supervisor (who also had a thick accent) and I asked that I be taken off their list. I continue to this day to receive these calls. I have caller ID but the number shows as 1 and that’s all.
Johnny Trece says
Congratulations Betty, you have won $9K from the U.S. Government Lottery Bingo Sweepstakes! All you have to do is send us $200 just so we know that you are serious about claiming your prize. There is a 5 day deadline so please hurry!
Sincerely Yours,
Not A Scammer :)