Palos Park Police Warn of Ongoing IRS Phone Scam

Palos Park police are warning residents about a recent telephone scam where callers are misidentifying themselves as officers with the IRS. The call often comes in as a recorded message with a claim that the taxpayer is being subject to a review by the criminal investigative branch of the IRS.

Characteristics of the current scam targeting Illinois residents includes the robotic sounding message, fake names and IRS badge numbers, and caller ID spoofing to make it look like the call originated from the IRS toll-free number. The scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number and may threaten victims with jail time or driver’s license suspension.

The IRS recommends the following steps should you receive this call:

• Do not call the scammers back with the number they provide. 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.
• You can also file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistance; Choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.

If you believe you are a victim of this crime, please call 9-1-1 so the Palos Park Police Department can launch an investigation