By Chief Steven J. Wojnar
Dudley Police Department It is tax season.Due to a variety of “scams” today, people can unwittingly become a victim of a larceny or identity theft.The IRS tries to provide warnings to citizens. I wanted to remind the readers of this column of some precautions to take during tax time. According to the Internal Revenue Service, victims have been called, or notified electronically, and told they owe money to the IRS. Generally, victims are informed they must pay promptly, for example through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer.If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license.In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.These scams have occurred in nearly every state in the country.The IRS warns of the following: Scammers may use fake names and IRS badge numbers.They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves. Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number. They can spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their calls. Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site. After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim. The IRS provides the following recommendations: If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if one really exists. 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 notice or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should report this to phishing@irs.gov . You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint. More information on this subject can also be found at IRS.Gov. |
The IRS reminds everyone they do not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. Additionally, the IRS does not threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement actions.Being able to recognize these tell-tale signs of a tax scam could save you from becoming a victim.You can always contact your bank, tax professional, the police, or other organizations before you conduct any transactions. If everything is legitimate, there should be time to research any request or demand. Some simple steps can allow you to make informed decisions and avoid becoming a victim.
Thanks again for your questions and comments. Please send them to me at the Dudley Police Department 71 West Main St. Dudley, Ma. 01571 or email at swojnar@dudleypolice.com. Opinions expressed in this weekly column are those of Chief Wojnar only and unless clearly noted, do not reflect the ideas or opinions of any other organization or citizen. |
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