Lake County >> When Patricia Hernandez received her second call from the IRS, she immediately knew it was a scam.
“I got an identical call about four months ago,” she said. “But the thing is I’m in good standing with the IRS. I’m a loyal taxpayer.”
The message left on Hernandez’s answering machine was from a robo-caller, or a computer-generated voice. The message was stilted:
“We have been trying to reach you. This call is officially your final notice from IRS, Internal Revenue Services. The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filing lawsuit against you,” says the pseudo-female voice. “To get more information about this case file, please call immediately on our department number, 360-388-3070. I repeat: 360-388-3070. Thank you.”
She is not the only Lake County resident receiving such threatening calls. With tax time approaching, they may be picking up in number.
“We received a number of calls on this, going back to early last fall,” Lakeport Chief of Police Brad Rasmussen said. “It’s an aggressive scam.”
Prompted by her husband, Hernandez called the Lake County Sheriff’s office to report the incident. Local law enforcement may have limited options other than to pass the information on to state or national officials — though they do need to know if residences are receiving calls.
“The scam itself is a crime — there is intent, whether they get money or not,” said Rasmussen. “But these scams are operating from outside our area.”
Running an internet search on the number, phone scam message boards are chock full of reports of others receiving identical calls. According to a January news release from the IRS, these calls are part of the “dirty dozen” scams that become prevalent every year during tax season.
In a statement provided for that release, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says that such phone calls simply aren’t the IRS way.
“If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with aggressive threats if you don’t pay immediately, it’s a scam artist calling,” said Koskinen. “The first IRS contact with taxpayers is usually through the mail. Taxpayers have rights, and this is not how we do business.”
According to the IRS, the favorite targets of these scammers are the elderly, newly-arrived immigrants and those who don’t speak English fluently. However, even the police occasionally get targeted.
When asked how people should handle these calls, Chief Rasmussen had this to offer: “Do not respond to them. Do not open email attachments. Hang up on them — tell them to go away.”
Dave Faries contributed to this article.
