Attala County Sheriff Tim Nail said his office has received numerous calls in recent weeks about an IRS call scam.
The scam involves someone calling and claiming to be from the IRS. The caller then tells the victim that a warrant has been issued for his or her arrest due to not paying back taxes.
“The IRS is never going to contact you by phone,” said Nail. “It’s a scam.”
Nail says it’s important to remember that the IRS will never:
- Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
- Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
- Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card, or request that you wire a payment.
- Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
- Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
- Use email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue involving bills or refunds.
Sheriff Nail said there is another scam that most often originates from overseas and the person on the line informs the call recipient that he or she has won money or some other prize. The caller then asks the recipient to send money to pay taxes for the prize. Sheriff Nail says this is how you know it’s not legitimate.
“If you have to send money or anything else, then it’s a scam,” says Nail.
Nail also says that sometimes the callers ask the unsuspecting victims to go to Wal-Mart or CVS to get Greendot Cards or to send money via Western Union. Since many of the calls originate from outside of the county, Nail says that there’s not much that law enforcement officers in the United States can do about these calls, so the best advice would just be to ignore the calls or just to hang up when you realize it’s a scam.
