by 
San Manuel Miner
Criminals posing as Internal Revenue Service agents have been making phone calls in the Tri-Community area in an attempt to “scam” residents out of money or obtain their credit card, bank information or social security number. At least four people are known to have received calls of this nature but were smart enough to question the caller and refuse to provide information.
The callers claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service and tell the intended victim that they owe taxes and must pay using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. They will threaten the victim with arrest, deportation, and loss of business license or driver’s license, if they don’t pay. A lot of time the scammers will rig it so that they show up on your caller ID as being the IRS. They may send follow up bogus IRS emails to support their scam.
The scammers will use a common name and give the victim a fake IRS badge number. They may know the last four digits of your social security number or other personal information. They often have a heavy accent associated with international phone banks. Someone may call a second time claiming to be police or from the motor vehicle division and threatening the victim with arrest or loss of their license.
Be advised that Internal Revenue Service agents do not call you or take credit card information over the phone. The IRS contacts tax payers by mail if they owe taxes and will explain payment options which can be made by check or setting up an installment plan.
If you feel you have been a victim of this scam or someone has targeted you report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission atwww.FTC.gov. Make sure to include “IRS Telephone Scam” in your complaint. You should also report the incident to TIGTA atwww.treasury.gov/TIGTAor call (800)366-4484. TIGTA is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. With tax season beginning this month these scammers will be more active. You can go to the IRS websitewww.irs.govto learn about the latest scams and consumer alerts. Rene Lambiotte for brought this story to attention last month. She received a bogus call that she says was “convincing and traumatic.”
Another scam was recently reported in San Manuel. A caller claiming to be from Arizona Public Service contacted a local business after hours saying they were delinquent in payment and they were sending someone to shut off their electricity.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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