With the opening of tax filing season on Jan. 31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning to be on the lookout for scam artists purporting to be from the federal agency.
Tax-related scams tend to increase during this time of year and can take many forms, including email refund schemes and phone impersonators, according to the IRS. The federal agency is working to remind taxpayers that it never initiates contact via email, by phone or through social media to request personal or financial information and that the first IRS contact on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail, according to a Jan. 23 alert.
Within the last month, local police departments, such as Park Ridge and River Vale, have fielded reports by residents who said they have been contacted by phony agents.
Two weeks ago, a Park Ridge man received a phone call from someone who identified himself as “Jack Watson,” an IRS agent. “Jack Watson” told the man he owed a $200 penalty and that if he didn’t send the money all future returns from the IRS would be blocked until the fine was paid. The man wound up providing the caller with his bank account numbers, but, several hours later he thought better of the transaction and contacted his bank. His bank agreed to freeze his account and assign him a new one to ensure “Jack Watson” would not be able to withdraw any money.
A week before that, a Park Ridge woman got a phone call from a man claiming to be “Kevin Jones” from the IRS. He reportedly told the woman she committed tax fraud and that warrants for her arrest may be issued. The woman told him that he must have her mistaken for someone else, but when “Kevin Jones” asked for the last four digits of her Social Security number, which she gave, he “confirmed” it was her. She told police the man spoke very quickly and became agitated when she didn’t provide the information he was asking for, and, eventually hung up on her. A day later, she received another call from someone identifying himself as from the IRS.
Neither resident lost any money in those two incidents, which are being investigated by detectives in Park Ridge.
The IRS says that if an individual who could possibly owe taxes received a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, he or she should call 1-800-829-1040. IRS employees at that line can confirm or deny any payment issues. If someone does not owe taxes or have any reason to believe they do, they may report the incident to the treasury inspector general for tax administration at 1-800-366-4484.
Anyone targeted by the scam should also contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and use the agency’s “Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov. More information on the scam is available on IRS.gov.
River Vale Detective Sgt. John DeVoe urged residents to not only be mindful of the IRS scheme, but also other popular scams that have been reported to police locally. River Vale’s detective bureau is currently investigating several complaints on a variety of scams, a few in which the victims have suffered a monetary loss, he said.
In recent years “the traditional scams that were perpetuated via mail or telephone have evolved with technology to utilize means like cell phones, email and computer technology,” said DeVoe, who is also a member of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Task Force.