Police Warn Of IRS Phone Scam In Galloway Township

Galloway Township, NJ -- Police are warning Galloway residents to be wary of fraudulent telephone calls from people posing as Internal Revenue Service representatives.

Galloway Township Police say they have seen a spike in IRS phone scams in the past few days.

According to police, callers claim that an arrest warrant has been issued by the IRS for unpaid or delinquent taxes, and that unless a fine is paid immediately, the victim will be arrested or face legal action.

“As with most scams, the con-artists are trying to scare the victim into 'wiring' money or trying to get a hold of personal information like a Social Security or credit card number,” police said. “The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the US mail. The IRS never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.”

• Never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone.
• Never insists that taxpayers use a specific payment method to pay tax obligations
• Never requests immediate payment over the telephone and will not take enforcement action immediately following a phone conversation. Taxpayers usually receive prior notification of IRS enforcement action involving IRS tax liens or levies.

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

Other characteristics of these scams include:

• 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.

• Anyone who knows they owe taxes or thinks they might owe taxes should 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.
• Anyone who doesn’t owe taxes, or has no reason to think they might owe taxes should report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
• Anyone who’s been targeted by this scam should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov.
• Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your complaint.