There have been at least five incidents of scams or fraudulent tax returns reported to the North Reading Police in the past week. With this in mind, we would like to cover some of the continuing scams we are seeing here in North Reading.
IRS Back Taxes Scam: This usually happens with someone calling your house and saying they are with the IRS and you owe back taxes. There may or may not be a threat to have you arrested if you do not comply with their orders. They will then tell you how to pay your “back taxes”, this will usually involve some type of pre-paid debit card or green dot card. This is a SCAM! The IRS does not want to be paid with pre-paid cards. The following information is comes directly from the IRS: If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do: 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 such an issue.
If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
If you’ve been targeted by these scams, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your complaint.
Identity Theft: Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your name, Social Security number (SSN) or other identifying information, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. In many cases, an identity thief uses a legitimate taxpayer’s identity to fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund.
The IRS has a special section on IRS.gov dedicated to identity theft issues, including YouTube videos, tips for taxpayers and an assistance guide. For victims, the information includes how to contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit. For other taxpayers, there are tips on how taxpayers can protect themselves against identity theft.
Taxpayers who believe they are at risk of identity theft due to lost or stolen personal information should contact the IRS immediately so the agency can take action to secure their tax account. Taxpayers can call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490. More information can be found on the special identity protection page.
Craigslist Scams: Craigslist is full of potential scams and stolen merchandise. One scam that we in North Reading have seen is a scam where someone is looking for work and is contacted by someone who says that they do not live in Massachusetts but will be buying/renting a place and want to hire the person to take care of this place until they arrive. The person will then send you a check/money order that is more than what you have agreed upon for wages and tell you to use the excess to furnish the home/buy toy for the “kids” or even send them back the difference. People that are looking for babysitting/nanny or maid work are most likely to fall victim to this scam.
Grandparent Scams: A grandparent receives a phone call (or sometimes an e-mail) from a “grandchild.” If it is a phone call, it’s often late at night or early in the morning when most people aren’t thinking that clearly. Usually, the person claims to be traveling in a foreign country and has gotten into a bad situation, like being arrested for drugs, getting in a car accident, or being mugged…and needs money wired ASAP. And the caller doesn’t want his or her parents told.
Sometimes, instead of the “grandchild” making the phone call, the criminal pretends to be an arresting police officer, a lawyer, a doctor at a hospital, or some other person. And we’ve also received complaints about the phony grandchild talking first and then handing the phone over to an accomplice…to further spin the fake tale.
We’ve also seen military families victimized: after perusing a soldier’s social networking site, a con artist will contact the soldier’s grandparents, sometimes claiming that a problem came up during military leave that requires money to address.
While it’s commonly called the grandparent scam, criminals may also claim to be a family friend, a niece or nephew, or another family member.
The best way to avoid being a victim of this is to resist the pressure to act quickly. Try to contact your grandchild or another family member to determine whether or not the call is legitimate. Never wire money based on a request made over the phone or in an e-mail…especially overseas. Wiring money is like giving cash—once you send it, you can’t get it back.
Please talk about these scams with family and friends. Let’s get the word out there so it becomes harder for these scammers to find a victim. More information is available on the web through the IRS, IC3, FBI and other government agencies. Victims that would like to report a crime can contact the North Reading Police at 978 664-3131 ext. 0. Questions about this article can be directed to Sgt. Derek Howe at dhowe@nrpd.org or 978 357-5064.