By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
If someone calls you claiming to represent the IRS, and demands money while threatening an arrest, don’t send money.
“That’s not how the IRS operates,” said Sweet Home Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “The police are not going to come for you at all.”
The old scam raised its ugly head again Monday, Sept. 17, prompting at least two people to visit Key Bank to withdraw funds.
“We’ve had two clients today that were contacted from the State of Washington,” said Tess Yahyazadeh, manager at Key Bank, Monday. Claiming to represent the IRS, they threatened to send police officers to arrest them.
One tried to withdraw $8,000, and the other attempted to withdraw $14,000.
She said the callers had a Pakistani accent.
The IRS will send a certified letter, Yahyazadeh said. The IRS will not call or use email to demand money.
Lynn said Sweet Home Police Department received about six similar reports Monday. All of them were scams where a caller was pretending to be the IRS. In those cases, no one lost any money.
The clients were instructed to withdraw the money then contact the scammer for instructions on how to send the money, Yahyazadeh said. Her bank inquires about large withdrawals and was able to warn its clients and stop the transaction before the clients lost any money.
“Once they take the money out, there’s nothing we can do,” Yahyazadeh said.
Complaints may be submitted at http://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1.
Information about these scams, about genuine IRS contact, and complaint forms are available at http://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing.