SCAM ALERT: Beware of Scrooges trying to scam you out of money during holiday season
With the holiday season approaching, comes the inevitable Scrooges trying to scam you out of money. We have started to see an increase in reports of scam attempts, most recently the grandparent scam and US Treasury scams. Crooks continue to use clever schemes to defraud millions of people every year. They often combine sophisticated technology with age-old tricks to get people to send money or give out personal information. They add new twists to old schemes and pressure people to make important decisions on the spot. One thing that never changes: they follow the headlines — and the money. Stay a step ahead with the latest info and practical tips from the nation’s consumer protection agency. Browse scam alerts by topic or by most recent at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts
According to the US Treasury Department, “Scammers call an individual asserting that the individual has been awarded a grant or a similar sum of money and request personal information or a sum of money to “release” the funds. The Treasury does not have such a program. Likewise, e-mails promising a sum of money and purporting to be from the Treasury Secretary or his staff are false. We urge recipients of such calls or e-mails to be extremely wary of any scheme requiring an advance payment for a later promise of funds—these are hallmarks of scams. A similar scam is a caller falsely representing that he is from the Internal Revenue Service or impersonating an investigator from this Office and demanding payment or information. These callers have been described as threatening or abusive, and tell victims they need to make immediate payment to forestall arrest. THESE ARE FRAUDS. PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION IN YOUR DEALINGS WITH ANYONE PURPORTING TO BE FROM A GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND DEMANDING MONEY OR INFORMATION.
Taxpayers should remember their first contact with the IRS will not be a call from out of the blue, but through official correspondence sent through the mail. Additionally, it is important for taxpayers to know that the IRS:
• 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.
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.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:
• 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 TIGTA at 1.800.366.4484.
• You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant by going to https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
Officer Jill Tutaj
Community Awareness Officer
Middleton Police Department
(608)824-7323
[email protected]
http://www.MiddletonPD.com
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Address/Location
Middleton Police Department
7341 Donna Dr
Middleton, WI 53562
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 608-824-7300
Officer Jill Tutaj
Community Awareness Officer
[email protected]
608-824-7323