IRS Phone Scam Victimizes Residents in Stafford: Police

STAFFORD, VA—Authorities recently have received several reports of residents being fleeced by bogus Internal Revenue Service agents, according to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. Police say it's a blatant attempt to steal money and/or gain access to personal information.

Police cited one case in which the victims received a call from a person claiming to be from the IRS. They were told their refund check had been sent to the wrong address, and were then instructed to buy $950 worth of gift cards to receive the refund. Anyone who receives such a call is urged to immediately call the SCSO at 540-658-4400 or the IRS at 800-829-1040.

Also, here are some tips from IRS. Characteristics of this scam 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 the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484.
• You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose "Other" and then "Imposter Scams." If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words "IRS Telephone Scam" in the notes.

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