Beware IRS Phone Scams: Mercer County Sheriff

Trenton, NJ -- Over the past week, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office has received numerous complaints about suspected telephone fraud involving telephone scammers posing as Internal Revenue Service agents, telephone scammers posing as Internal Revenue Service agents said on Tuesday.

The callers identify themselves as the IRS, stating the need to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes. They say violators face fines or arrest.

Some scammers have a tape of Sheriff’s Office radio dispatchers playing in the background and assert that officers will be serving an arrest warrant within one hour, if payment is not immediate.

“I can state with complete confidence the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office does not provide enforcement services for the IRS or do we solicit monies from public citizens for any means, especially by telephone,” Kemler said. “Unfortunately, there are difficulties in cracking down on fraudulent telephone solicitations because they are often generated from phone banks located out of state. In recent cases, affecting our area, the calls are (allegedly) coming from upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania area codes.”

Kemler advises residents who receive these calls to exercise common sense. Anyone who suspects a particular telephone call may be a scam is advised to simply hang up.

Anyone who receives such a call and is uncertain of its validity should report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.