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Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith said Thursday that the tax collection scheme has bilked victims throughout the country.
The number of local residents reporting getting called by the con artists has climbed significantly the past few weeks, according to Capt. William McNamara of the sheriff's office.
The impostors threaten the victims with deportation, jail or the loss of their driver’s or business licenses if they don’t pay up.
The callers may also “spoof” caller ID services to make it look as if they are calling from the actual agency, he said.
Scammers often research their targets online to pick up some personal details about them, such as their age and the names of family members, to make the intended victim believe they have official access to their tax records.
They may even use official Internal Revenue Service titles and give out a badge number to identify themselves.
According to McNamara, scammers usually demand payment through an online service or untraceable cash or debit card.
They often direct victims to a bank or convenience store to make the payment through a wire service such as Western Union.
The real IRS says that some scammers are copying the agency’s official letterhead on email messages and regular letters.
In another twist, the thieves provide a real IRS address and tell the victim to mail the receipt for the payment there after the money has been wired.
This ploy is just another “distraction,” McNamara said, intended to make the scam look legit.
The IRS says the best way of dealing with the thieves is to hang up the phone or toss the letter in the trash.
The IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone without first sending a written tax bill in the mail and does not demand immediate payment or threaten to call in local police.
People who think they’ve been targeted by scammers should report the incident to their local police.
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