IRS Scam Returns

IRS Scam Returns
Rebecca Leonard
News Correspondent

TEMPLETON  A common scam over the telephone has made its way back to Templeton, with a few of the Friends of the Templeton Elders members reporting a supposed urgent call from the Internal Revenue Service.

“I received a call from the IRS. My phone told me it was from a town in Washington State. My nephew lives in Washington, so I answered it. A gentleman told me his name and I wrote it down. He said he was from the IRS and wanted some information,” explained Gail Noel, president of the Friends.

In a letter that Ms. Noel sent to the IRS, she said that the call came from Colville, Washington, and the caller asked for her name, but knew where she lived and her phone number.

She said that at one point she couldn’t understand him and he became very frustrated with her – asking her to “just listen.” “I told him if he wanted any more info, he could write to me and hung up,” stated Ms. Noel.

According the IRS website, victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a preloaded debit card or wire transfer. A member of the friends group was told that he had to call a specific phone number to fix the problem.

If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. Many times, the caller becomes hostile and violent – Ms. Noel can vouch for that.

Ignoring the calls doesn’t solve the problem either because the callers leave “urgent” call-back requests.

Police Chief Michael Bennett said that several residents in town have fallen victim to the scam and have had their identity stolen, which effected their tax returns.

He advised that people do any tax filing or tax discussions in person at a tax service, such as Liberty Tax or H&R Block.

On their website, the IRS states that they never contact people for immediate payment over the phone, never demand you pay without giving you the right to question why, never require you to use a specific method of payment, never ask for credit and debit cards over the phone, and never threaten to bring in local police to arrest you for not paying.

“The best thing to do is never do anything over the phone,” expressed Mr. Bennett.