Sheriff Issues Tax Scam Warning

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office is warning area residents to be on the lookout for tax scams.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said that his office is receiving a lot of calls regarding people who are being targeted by potential scammers.

Shirley said that in the calls reported to his office, victims are being told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid immediately using a pre-loaded debit card, wire transfer, or by providing bank account information.

He said that the scammers then tell who they are calling that if they refuse to cooperate, they could be arrested or sued or have their driver’s license or property taken away.

The sheriff said the scammers are very clever about trying to trick people.

“The scammers use fake names often, common names and IRS badge numbers to identify themselves when they are calling,” said Shirley. “The scammers may know the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security number. They spoof toll-free numbers or for instance, the Washington, D.C. area code, which is 202, and it may actually be the IRS headquarters number so it appears to be a legitimate call.”

Also, Shirley said the scammers sometimes send bogus IRS e-mails to some victims and sometimes may hang up the first time and call back pretending to be law enforcement.

The sheriff said the IRS does not call a person in that manner or e-mail regarding taxes owed and the agency never asks for pre-loaded debit cards, wire transfers, or bank account information as a method of payment.

Shirley said if someone gets a call from a tax scammer, the response is simple.

“I would never engage them in a conversation,” said Shirley. “That is what they want you to do. If you get a call, I would simply hang up. You can also call us at the Sheriff’s Office at 886-2525 if you continue to get these calls.”

Shirley said people can also call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.