During the current tax season, the Police Department has seen a drastic increase in fraudulent IRS related incidents and would like to caution residents who may be purchasing a Green Dot, or other prepaid debit card, under threat of prosecution for tax issues.
Several cases have been reported in which victims received phone calls from individuals claiming to be local law enforcement officers and/or agents with the IRS. In each case, the caller claimed the victim was delinquent in his/her tax payment and instructed the victim to purchase pre-paid debit cards in order to repay the taxes, threatening that the victim would be arrested if he/she failed to comply. During each of the incidents, the caller(s) have been concealing their phone numbers in order to give the appearance that the phone calls are originating from law enforcement or the IRS.
Neither the IRS, nor any law enforcement agency, will ever request payment over the telephone. If you receive any suspicious calls instructing you to provide money or personal information over the telephone, ask for a call back number and contact the local police department in order to verify the legitimacy of the caller. If you believe that you have been a victim of a similar scam, call the police or the IRS to report the incident.