Phone Scam: Chantilly Resident Taken In By Fake IRS Agent

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A Chantilly resident told the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday that he lost money to a con artist posing on the phone as an agent of the Internal Revenue Service.

The resident, who lives in the 42400 block of Fawn Meadow Place, received a call from a person claiming to be with the IRS, the sheriff’s office said. The caller told the victim they owed back taxes, and if payment was not made immediately, they would be subjected to federal charges and warrants.

The victim wired cash to the suspect, the sheriff’s office said; the amount was not disclosed. But when the suspect called back and demanded more money, the victim realized the call was a scam.

The sheriff’s office did not release any further information on the suspect.

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In a statement, the IRS said it has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent months as scam artists threaten police arrest, deportation, license revocation and other things. The IRS tells taxpayers to guard against all sorts of con games that arise during the filing season.

“If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with aggressive threats if you don’t pay immediately, it’s a scam artist calling,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in the statement. “The first IRS contact with taxpayers is usually through the mail. Taxpayers have rights, and this is not how we do business.”

For more information on tax scams, check out the IRS statement here.