IRS Phishing Scam
IRS PHISHING SCAM ALERT
To all Burrillville residents. Recently this Department has received numerous calls with regards to a scam involving someone who claims to be an agent with the IRS and demands a call back looking for payment or monies past due. This person claims that if payment is not received you will be arrested. This is a classic scam that most of the time originates outside of the United States.
If you have received a call or message from someone claiming to be from the IRS here are a few tips:
The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
IRS impersonation telephone calls – as well as other types of unwanted calls (e.g., telemarketing robocalls, fake grants, tech support, sweepstakes winnings, etc.) remain popular scams. Blocking these types of calls is one strategy taxpayers should consider. Easy to install call blocking software for smartphones is available
Consumer Reports - https://www.consumerreports.org/…/robocall-blocke…/index.htm
Consumer's Union - https://consumersunion.org/end-robocalls/solutions/
CTIA - https://www.ctia.org/consumer-tips/robocalls
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRS employee:
View your tax account information online or review their payment options at IRS.gov to see the actual amount owed
If the caller is an IRS employee with a legitimate need to contact you, please call them back using the appropriate online resources
If the individual is not an IRS employee and does not have a legitimate need to contact you and regardless of whether you were a victim of the scam or not, report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agencies:
If IRS-related, please report to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) via their online complaint form.
If Treasury-related, please report to the Office of the Treasury Inspector General (TIG) via OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov
Please report IRS or Treasury-related fraudulent calls to phishing@irs.gov (Subject: IRS Phone Scam).
For any fraudulent call, after listening to the message, do not provide any information and hang up. When you report the fraudulent call, please include:
The telephone number of the caller (e.g., Caller ID)
The telephone number you were instructed to call back
A brief description of the communication
If possible, please include:
The employee name
The employee badge number
The exact date and time that you received the call(s)
The geographic location and time zone where you received the call if possible
In addition, please consider filing a complaint with the:
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) via their online complaint form
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by visiting the Consumer Complaint Center. Consumers should select the “phone” form and then the “Unwanted Calls” under “Phone Issues”, and provide details of the call in the description of their complaint
Your local Attorney General’s office via their consumer complaint form (the reporting mechanism will vary by state)
More information with regards to this type of activity can be found at https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing
The Burrillville Police Department does not investigate the origination of phishing calls. Please contact the agencies listed above.
If you have already fallen victim to this scam and have sent the money as requested, please contact the Burrillville Police Department so a report can be filed. Please note however that due to these calls originating outside of Burrillville and more than likely outside of this country these reports will be for informational purposes only.
Thank you for your cooperation and stay vigilant with your personal information.