During December, numerous Mt. Laurel residents have reported receiving IRS phone scam calls.
The Mt. Laurel Police Department has taken it upon itself to inform folks about the common tendencies of these criminals and educate them on what steps to take if they find themselves in one of these red flagged scenarios.
“The only thing we can really do is make the public aware of the problem and get the message out that these things are out there and people need to be on alert about them,” Lt. Stephen Riedener said.
While there are several versions of the scam, the most common one appears to be an automated call. A message tells the victim they are being sued by the IRS and they owe money. If they don’t pay, they will be arrested. The message goes on to advise the victim to call a phone number to resolve the issue, but the contact provides the phone number of a criminal.
It is tough for regulators to put an end to this trend because these calls typically originate from outside of the U.S.
The caller ID can be manipulated to display any number the scammer wants, oftentimes fooling the victim into believing it is the IRS.
“There are clear warning signs about these scams, which continue at high levels throughout the nation,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “Taxpayers should remember their first contact with the IRS will not be a call from out of the blue, but through official correspondence sent through the mail. A big red flag for these scams are angry, threatening calls from people who say they are from the IRS and urging immediate payment. This is not how we operate. People should hang up immediately and contact Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration or the IRS.”
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, there are a number of steps you are recommended to follow.
If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at (800) 829–1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue, if there really is one.
If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think you owe any taxes — for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made a false threat — then call and report the incident to TIGTA at (800) 366–4484.
You can file a complaint using the Federal Trade Commission Complaint Assistant.
It is important for taxpayers to know the IRS never requests immediate payment over the telephone and will not take enforcement action immediately following a phone conversation. Taxpayers usually receive prior notification of IRS enforcement action involving IRS tax liens or levies.
It also never asks for credit card, debit card or prepaid card information over the telephone or insists taxpayers use a specific payment method to pay tax obligations.
“More often than not, the victim will not get their money back in an IRS phone scam. Specifically, if they are using a pre-loadable debit card or are wiring the money, in that case it is untraceable, and even in the instance that they are using a credit card, it is nearly impossible to track down the criminal because they are typically out of the country,” Riedener said.
While the IRS phone scam is continuing to circulate around the region, another scam is also going around that is harder to detect.
The tech support scam involves a victim who receives what seems to be a warning from Microsoft that their computer was infected with a virus and will now be locked and unusable.
The fictitious Microsoft message then directs the victim to contact a tech company to resolve the issue.
However, the people who answer the phone are not actually employed by a tech company and request a payment via credit card to fix the victim’s computer issue.
The cybercriminal is then given access to your bank account information.
Cybercriminals often use publicly available information, so they oftentimes know your name and other personal information when they call you. They may even be able to guess what operating system you’re using.
Once they’ve gained your trust, they might trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking usernames and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
They usually try to convince you to visit legitimate websites to download software that will allow them to take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
They typically request credit card information so they can bill you for false services.
These cybercriminals also will often direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.
Neither Microsoft nor its partners make unsolicited phone calls or cold calls to charge you for computer security or software fixes.
Whenever you receive a phone call or see a pop-up window on your PC and feel uncertain whether it is from someone at Microsoft, don’t take the risk. Reach out directly to Microsoft technical support at the Microsoft Answer Desk or call Microsoft Customer Service at (800) 642–7676.
Do not trust unsolicited calls or emails. Do not provide any personal information.
Windows Helpdesk, Windows Service Center, Microsoft Tech Support, Microsoft Support, Windows Technical Department Support Group, and the Microsoft Research and Development Team are all common names of organizations that cybercriminals claim to be a part of.
Though it is not something that is common during a particular time of year, according to Riedener, folks are encouraged to keep an eye out for these warning signals the MLPD has provided to its residents as they go about their holiday shopping.
