Click here to subscribe today or Login.
The Pennsylvania State Police have been getting a slew of complaints in recent weeks about phone scammers claiming to be Internal Revenue Service tax collectors.
The crooks are calling and threatening people with arrest unless they immediately settle supposed tax debts right then and there, using prepaid debit cards.
But that’s not how the IRS does business, so if you do get such a call, hang up.
State police say the numbers of reports has increased as the April 15 tax-filing deadline approaches, and there has been an “abundance” of complaints over the past week or so.
Some of the scammers have even been cheeky enough to leave voicemails asking for a call back. Returning such a call is a bad idea, of course, unless you are eager to allow a stranger to drain your bank account.
A number of local police departments have been getting reports of similar scams in recent months, and state Attorney General Kathleen Kane warns that for many fraudsters, this is harvest time.
“Scams like this always pick up around tax season,” she said.
The crooks gain credibility by “verifying” the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number, mentioning personal information about family members, sending emails forged to look like they come from the IRS, and even manipulating Caller ID to match IRS phone numbers.
If you owe the IRS money, the agency will mail you written notification. They will not call and ask for your debit-card number.
Swindlers get thousands of dollars from Pennsylvanians every day with an endless variety of deceptive schemes that most of us would never dream of.
Protect yourself by never sharing personal or financial information over the phone to unsolicited callers.
