WESTFIELD – Bob Poth is a retiree from an energy plant in Hartford and a longtime area resident.
So it came as a great surprise to him when he came home recently to find a message on his answering machine from the last government agency anyone wants to hear from: the Internal Revenue Service.
Or so he thought.
“I forgot their terminology, but basically they said it was important that I call back, and the gal gave her name and a telephone number,” he said, adding that the number was a Washington D.C. area code. “She said I had to take action before they took me to court.”
In April, the IRS itself issued a warning against a similar scam that they had caught wind of, writing in a statement to be wary of “sophisticated and aggressive phone scams targeting taxpayers.”
In the statement, the IRS added that the scams “won’t likely end with the filing season” and urged people to keep their guard up.
The IRS added that the rash of scams being perpetrated at the end of the 2014 filing season were targeting recent immigrants, and threatened them with deportation arrest, and other hostilities, if they didn’t cooperate.
Other characteristics of these calls include the use of fake names and IRS badge numbers, as the scammer would generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
The statement said that the scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security number, and spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that its the IRS calling.
Regarding other types of scams, the IRS said it does not initiate contact with taxpayers via email to request personal or financial information, and encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the agency as a lure, such as through text messages of social media.
The IRS does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts, and that recipients of an email requesting this information should not open any attachments or click on any links within the message and should forward the e-mail to [email protected].
Westfield Police have said that they at first received a rash of calls from residents regarding prank phone calls from people claiming to be the IRS, but that these calls have been more sporadic of late.
While another person may have grown nervous and worried, Poth grew suspicious and decided to pick up the phone and call another District of Columbia area code – the IRS itself – and get to the bottom of it.
“The agent I spoke with said that the IRS doesn’t call you and leave a message without your permission, and then he said they give their identification number,” said Poth. “If an IRS agent calls you, they’ll leave their badge or employee number. The IRS does not leave a message on your answering machine.”
While he hasn’t heard from anyone else in the community or any more suspicious calls from people claiming to be IRS agents, Poth said he hopes that people will stay on their toes, do their due dilligence and be aware of potential scammers.
“Go in the telephone book or on the Internet, and look for numbers that are listed to contact the IRS,” he said. “If you contact them, they can point you in the right direction.”
“If we can help someone else get a little bit smarter,” he said. “That’s good.”
