South Windsor Police Warn Residents of 'IRS Scam'

South Windsor police are warning residents to be on alert for an “IRS Scam” that continues to be an issue nationwide, along with a local variation using a Social Security reference.

Police said that two South Windsor residents recently received calls from a person claiming to be a Social Security Administration representative.

The caller had an accent and was possibly of Indian descent, as was one of the victims, according to police. The caller stated that the victim(s) owed money to the “Department of Social Security” and that they would be arrested if they didn’t send money via “Moneygram.”

Police said one of the residents actually went to Wal-Mart in Manchester and sent $500 via Moneygram. The investigating officer attempted to cancel the transaction with the assistance of Wal-Mart’s staff, however, the money had been claimed shortly after it was sent.

Police said it is important to note that local police agencies do not enforce Social Security or IRS regulations, only the laws of the State of Connecticut.

Anyone receiving harassing calls from someone threatening them with an arrest should contact their local police department for assistance.

The information below is from the www.socialsecurity.gov website:

If someone saying they are from Social Security does contact you requesting information, don’t respond. Instead, contact your local Social Security office or call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to see whether we really need any information from you.

Whatever you do, don’t fall victim to a scam. Don’t give out your personal information.

Social Security and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) take these scams very seriously. We do everything we can to stop the perpetrators and educate the public. To report suspicious activity, please call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. (If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call the OIG TTY number at 1-866-501-2101.) A Public Fraud Reporting form is also available online at OIG’s website: https://www.socialsecurity.gov/…/public_fraud_repo…/form.htm.

South Windsor police also offer the following tips on the “IRS Scam” via www.IRS.gov:

The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail. The IRS never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone. For more information or to report a scam, go to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.

People have reported a particularly aggressive phone scam in the last several months. Immigrants are frequently targeted. Potential victims are threatened with deportation, arrest, having their utilities shut off, or having their driver’s licenses revoked. Callers are frequently insulting or hostile - apparently to scare their potential victims.

Potential victims may be told they are entitled to big refunds, or that they owe money that must be paid immediately to the IRS. When unsuccessful the first time, sometimes phone scammers call back trying a new strategy.

• Scammers 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.
• Scammers 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 bogus 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.
• If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:
• 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 there really is such an issue.
• 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 bill 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 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.