Gresham Police See Big Increase in IRS Scam Calls

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Thursday, March 05, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

The Gresham Police Department has received more than two dozen calls in a 30 day period, all from residents wanting to report suspicious phone calls from people claiming to be IRS investigators.

"All of the reports are similar in nature and usually involve the victim being told a warrant for their arrest will be issued if they do not give the caller their name, social security number, and other personal demographic and financial information," said Gresham Police. In each case, the police department believes the victim was contacted by a criminal pretending to be an IRS agent, attempting to steal the victim's identity and money. 

This type of scam is not new and is listed as one of the "Dirty Dozen" tax scams for 2015 on the real IRS website: irs.gov. Along with phishing emails and fake website scams, the IRS warns taxpayers to beware of suspicious phone calls which "threaten police arrest, license revocation" and other such bullying tactics.  

According to the IRS, if you receive a phone call and suspect the caller is not really from the IRS you should: 

1) Record the employee's name, badge number, call back number and caller ID if available, and 
2) Call 1-800-366-4484 to speak with a real government employee and determine if the caller was truly an IRS employee with a legitimate need to contact you.  

The Gresham Police Department warns residents to not give out personal or financial information to unsolicited callers unless they are certain of the caller's identity and intentions.

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