An IRS scam has area law enforcement agencies warning residents and Q-Country 92.7 answering unwanted calls.
“Basically they’re telling these people that they owe back taxes for one thing or another and if those taxes aren’t paid then the IRS will put a lien on their home or their property or something like that and this matter can be resolved quickly if you’ll just send in some money,” Sergeant Greg Gilpin, Crime Prevention Officer with the St. Joseph Police Department said.
The St. Joseph Police Department and the Cameron Police Department have both issued warnings on social media to tell residents to be aware of the phone scam. Gilpin said the department has received a number of calls from area citizens who have been contacted by the scammers.
“The calls I’ve gotten from people are telling me it’s their home phones they’re getting them on,” Gilpin said. “You just have no idea where these calls are coming from. It could be right here in town or clear across the country or in another part of the world. That’s just the way it works.”
Wednesday Q-Country 92.7 also received several phone calls from the IRS scammers leaving an automated message on the radio station’s hotline.
“I need you or your retained attorney of record to return the call. The issue at hand is extremely time sensitive,” the message said. “Don’t disregard this message and do return this call before we take any action against you. Goodbye and take care.”
In an effort to try and contact the scammers the St. Joseph Post tried to call back the number provided in the message (415) 234-9651. The first two attempts went straight to voice mail with an automated recording.
“the voice mailbox of this account is full please try leaving a message later, your message has been saved,” the automated recording said.
On our third attempt we tried to call using the Q-Country studio line where the original call had been made. We received a busy signal on that attempt, however the scammers had made several attempts to try and contact someone at that number prior.
“I’d just tell you to hang up the phone,” said Gilpin. “If you think it’s a scam simply hang up, just don’t even deal with them.”
Gilpin said even if you did owe money, the IRS would not contact you that way.
“If you got some legal problems with the IRS or other government agency you’re going to be getting a notification probably through registered mail,” said Gilpin. “If it’s serious enough they’re probably going to be coming to your home but they’re not going to be randomly calling you on your phone and tell you that you owe money.”
He said scams like this usually don’t take place until the tax season.
“You see this a lot around tax time when people are really thinking about taxes but this is also the time of year when people have saved up for Christmas so the scammers probably figure you have extra money that maybe you won’t have throughout the year so it may be a good time to hit,” he said.
So far Gilpin said the St. Joseph Police Department has not received any reports of people actually falling for the scam, only reports of individuals being hit up by the robocalls trying to collect.
As far as Q-Country is concerned, the St. Joseph Post has been informed the radio station is caught up on its taxes with the IRS and even if the scammers had landed the right call number no cash prizes will be awarded.