ECSO Warning Of IRS Imposter Scam

September 5, 2019

Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Investigators are once again warning residents about telephone scammers claiming to be from the IRS.

A recent incident was brought to our attention in which the scammer called the potential victim and claimed to be a with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The scammer claimed to be an employee of the IRS and asked the recipient to send the money owed by gift card.

The ECSO said Wednesday they recently learned of another IRS scam, with the caller claiming to be an IRS employee and asking for payment by gift card. Deputies are asking that anyone receiving such a call report it and not provide money or personal information.

Investigators said there are are multiple variations of this scam, and fraudsters are constantly devising new and innovative ways to take hard-earned money.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office offered several tips to avoid becoming a victim of fraud:

  • Always be suspicious of any threatening calls claiming to be from the IRS or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office or any other business – especially if it is coming from a business that you do not normally patronize.
  • A legitimate business will not resort to threats as a first response to a late or missed payment.
  • Always be suspicious when asked to send an electronic payment, “Green Dot” card payment, gift card payment, or wire transfer.
  • Trust your instincts. If you feel that something “just isn’t right”, call your local law enforcement agency and report it. It is much easier to prevent fraud in the first place than to recover your money after the fact.

Contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 to report fraud.

Comments

3 Responses to “ECSO Warning Of IRS Imposter Scam”

  1. Happened to me too on September 6th, 2019 3:11 pm

    I had a call from a number that I didn’t recognize so I didn’t answer the call, however the caller did leave a recording on my voicemail saying that I needed to return the call and give them the last 4 numbers of my social security number with instructions that failure to do so would result in them “getting me arrested”.

  2. Bewildered on September 5th, 2019 10:40 am

    The down side of our high tech society. Sad when you can no longer answer your own telephone because there is a scammer on the other end 90 percent of the time.

  3. Anne on September 5th, 2019 6:50 am

    Got one of these in July on my cellphone voice mail, very authoritative voice speaking in English:
    “There’s a Legal Enforcement Action filed on your Social Security Number for criminal activity so when you get this message kindly call as soon as possible on our number that is 201-464-0713 before we begin legal proceedings. Thank you”

    Of course ignored it but kept the voice mail so others could hear about this SCAM.
    There’s gotta be a special place in the devil’s den for these scammers.
    Beware….

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News