Recently, residents of Weld and Larimer County reported getting scam phone calls relating to jury duty. The callers were claiming to be law enforcement or government officials and demanding a payment in order to make a warrant go away for failing to appear for a jury summons. Now, details of a similar scam are being reported – a scam relating to the IRS.
What is this IRS Scam?
Apparently, Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park residents have received threatening phone calls from someone claiming to be with the Treasury Department. The caller explains to the person that there has been a warrant issued for their arrest for failure to pay back taxes. They are told if they don’t pay what is owed immediately, they will be arrested and sent to jail for six months.
The caller requires the person to stay on the line and go to the grocery store to purchase a special IRS voucher. The person is told they must stay on the line or the police will be dispatched to arrest them immediately. The “voucher” the caller tells the person to buy is really a prepaid card, which is hard to trace. Once they have received the information off the prepaid card, the caller tells the person the warrant has been stopped.
Avoid Falling Prey to This Scam
9news gave some good rules to follow to avoid falling victim to these scams:
- If you get a suspicious phone call regarding taxes, call 1-800-366-4484 – the Tax Administration’s Treasury Inspector General.
- If you get a phone call, letter, or email from the IRS and want to verify it’s authenticity, call the IRS. They keep record of every phone call, letter, and email.
- Verify the IRS symbol on any letter or email is identical to the one on the IRS website and that it says “Internal Revenue Service.”
- Any suspicious emails requesting confidential or personal information can be sent to phishing@irs.gov.
- The IRS will NEVER initiate contact via social media, text, or email.
If you think you have been targeted by this IRS scam in Larimer County, you can call:
Colorado Attorney General – (800) 222-4444
IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit – (800) 908-4490