IRS Phone Scam hits Upton

In July 2014 the Upton Police Department reported they received several calls from residents claiming they were targets of an IRS scam. According to the Upton Police victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

Last week another Upton resident was targeted by this scam.

The scammer left a message at the house with a “Washington DC” number.  When the call was returned the Upton resident was immediately transferred to the “agent in charge”, provided a “case number” and personal information for verification. The scammer then said the resident was facing a five-year jail sentence, stated all assets had been frozen, and that the local police department was cooperating.  The resident was told to avoid paying $24,000 in fines they needed to pay $7,000 immediately. Luckily the resident became suspicious and called the Upton Police Department on another phone line and was advised this was a scam.

Residents can confirm the call they received was a scam by calling the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration @ 800-366-4484.

This is a scary scam. According to the BBB “the fake IRS agents have been known to use a computer program to make the real IRS phone number appear on caller ID, quote false badge numbers, and use call centers that use background noise to seem legitimate. These scammers may also have the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number among other personal information. Victims and targets of this scam have also reported receiving calls from people claiming to be the police department or DMV after refusing to pay.”  The call I received had a fake IRS number show on my caller ID log.