The Police Department has been getting reports from residents who have been receiving phone calls from scammers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The caller tells the potential victim they owe back taxes and potentially could be arrested or deported. If you should receive such a phone call the simple thing to do is to hang up. Do not at any time give them credit card information, social security numbers or go and purchase a secured credit card.
The Niles Police Department Crime Prevention Unit is reminding our residents that if you are contacted by someone claiming to be from the IRS to contact the IRS at 800-366-4844 to confirm the validity of the contact. The IRS usually first contacts people by mail – not by phone –about unpaid taxes. And the IRS won’t ask for payment using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. The IRS also won’t ask for a credit card number over the phone.
The callers who commit this fraud often:
• Use common names and fake IRS badge numbers.
• Know the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security Number.
• Make caller ID information appear as if the IRS is calling.
• Send bogus IRS e-mails to support their scam.
• Call a second time claiming to be the police or department of motor vehicles, and the caller ID again supports their claim.
If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS asking for a payment, here’s what to do:
• If you owe Federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
• If you don’t owe taxes, call and report the incident to TIGTA at 800-366-4484.
• You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.
When in doubt at any time we urge you to contact the Federal Trade Commission to determine if you may be potentially a victim of a scam.