I want to warn the local community to beware of a confidence scheme involving persons who claim to be employees of the Internal Revenue Service attempting to collect back taxes. This scheme is a lie and these people are theives. A 65-year old Eastover resident reported that on Thursday, September 4, 2014, she received a telephone call from a man who identified himself as agent Baul (not Paul, but Baul) Smith and claimed he worked for the Internal Revenue Service. Smith identified himself as an I.R.S. agent and claimed that he was calling to collect money which he asserted that she and her husband owed for back taxes from 2009 to 2011 in the amount of four thousand four hundred fifty dollars ($4,450.00). The scammer instructed the woman to go to her bank, withdraw money, and purchase reloadable cards at a local grocery store. Smith then asked his victim if she had a cell phone and told her to give him the number. The victim complied and he quickly called her on the cell phone and remained on the line with her until the transaction was completed. She was then told to purchase the reloadable card, scratch off the silver protective strip on the back of the card, and read the number to him. The victim followed the instructions and was told by Smith that he would put her in contact with his supervisor to verify that the payment had been made. Another male, an accomplice of Smith, identified himself as Damon Marshall, Smiths supervisor and an employee of the I.R.S. Marshall told the victim that she and her husband owed an additional debt for back taxes to the I.R.S. from 2004, 2005 and 2007 in the amount of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00). She again, was told to follow the same directions for the previous debt. Upon completion of the final transaction, Marshall returned the victims to Smith, who gave her a fraudulent confirmation number for payment. Then, Marshall advised the victim that she still owed court costs for each of those years, which equaled another four thousand dollars ($4,000.00). The victim again, followed the same payment instructions, purchasing reloadable cards at a local grocery store and gave the numbers on the card to the scammer. In the end, the victim and her husband were defrauded and lost a total of sixteen thousand fifty dollars ($16,050.00), which does not include the costs of buying thirty six (36) cards to pay what she thought was a debt to the Internal Revenue Service. We are going to work with local and federal authorities to catch these thieves. They prey on very young or older citizens and use intimidation and threats to steal from them, and we are not going to tolerate this. While we are continuing our investigations, though, I want to caution people to be careful and to verify. If they get this kind of contact, I want them to call us first. Our number works 24 hours a day, seven days a week: (910) 323-1500. Also, here are some tips that can help keep you and your life savings protected: 1) The IRS contacts clients by mail and NOT by telephone regarding unpaid taxes. The IRS does not initiate contact by email to request personal or financial information. 2) The IRS will not ask for payment via prepaid debit or reloaded cards. In addition, the IRS will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone. 3) The IRS does not ask for PIN numbers or passwords or similar confidential information for credit cards, bank accounts or any other financial accounts. 4) If you think you might owe federal taxes, hang-up and call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. If you do not owe taxes call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484 or you can visit the website at tigta.gov. 5) You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. You should also add a reference line describing your complaint: IRS TELEPHONE SCAM. This scam is the largest of its kind in the nation. It has been used, not just in Cumberland County, but throughout the country and has claimed over twenty thousand (20,000) victims.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 21:39:44 +0000
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