Sheriff's Office sees increase in calls concerning telephone tax scams

Residents advised to stay alert.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is receiving dozens of calls from the public this morning reporting telephone scams involving aggressive and threatening criminals impersonating IRS agents. A voicemail similar to the calls that are being reported is attached to this press release.

Because public awareness is one of the most important keys to preventing this type of scam, the Sheriff’s Office reminds residents to stay alert.

The following information provided by the Internal Revenue Service will help identify fraudulent calls. The Sheriff’s Office urges residents to share this information with family, friends, associates and co-workers.

According to the IRS, there are five things that scammers often do, but the IRS will never do:

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 prepaid 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

According to the IRS, fraudulent callers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS is calling and will identify themselves by using fake names and bogus IRS badge numbers.

The caller may sound convincing and know the victim’s name, address, or other identifying information that is often easily obtainable through resources available to the public.

Anyone who receives a scam telephone call is encouraged by the IRS to report the incident to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484 or at http://www.tigta.gov/.

Additionally, they recommend contacting the Federal Trade Commission and using their ‘FTC Complaint Assistant’ at http://www.ftc.gov/. Be sure to include “IRS Telephone Scam” in the comments of the complaint.

If you think you may owe tax, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to http://www.irs.gov/ and type “scam” in the search box.

Listen to a fraudulent voicemail

Visit the Washoe County Sheriff's website to hear the audio.

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