Provided by the Bucks County Department of Consumer Protection:
According to the number of reports, from Bucks County residents, that the Office of Consumer Protection has received recently, people in our area are once again being bombarded by, what is known as, the “IRS Scam” telephone call. The method that these crooks use in an attempt to scam people, especially our senior residents, out of their money has proven successful time and again.
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This type of fraud usually begins with a simple telephone call to your home number. The scammers use what is known as a “spoofing device” which alters what you see on your telephone’s caller ID. In this scam, the incoming calls would display as originating in Washington D.C.; possibly even displaying the acronym “IRS”. These efforts at trickery are in the hopes that these calls “look legitimate” to those on the receiving end.
If you are not at home when these scammers call, oftentimes they will leave a nasty and threatening voice message.
If you have the misfortune of answering this type of call, you will most likely hear a professional sounding person who will inform you that you owe the IRS money and that if you do not pay you will face consequences that may include jail time.
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Do not panic. Simply hang up the phone. Do not engage them in any conversation. We have learned that by doing so may result in the increase of these type of calls to your home. This is big business to these scammers and they will continue these calls thus creating a great deal of stress to whoever answers.
We, at Bucks County Consumer Protection, advise you to file a complaint about this type of call with the FTC at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/GettingStarted#crnt or by calling the Federal Trade Commission at 202-326-2222.
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