Portland Police Bureau Warns of Tax-Season Scams

Saturday, February 06, 2016

GoLocalPDX News Team

The Portland Police Bureau is asking all Portland residents to be alert and aware of phone scams in the city during tax season.

In 2015, the Police Bureau received reports of residents receiving calls from someone who claims to be from a local police or sheriff’s department. The caller then tells the resident that the victim had missed jury duty, had outstanding fines, or a warrant for their arrest that could be taken care of over the phone with a payment.

Other victims have reported receiving calls from people claiming to be public utilities, the IRS, charities and home repair companies.

Callers usually instruct victims to purchase re-loadable cards and call them back with the numbers.

The Portland Police Bureau reminds all residents that:

-The Portland Police Bureau or any other legitimate law enforcement agency does not call community members seeking payment for outstanding traffic citations or warrants.

-The Portland Police Bureau does not call individuals and demand money from community members under any circumstances.

-Individuals claiming to collect debts may try to instill fear in potential victims to persuade them to forward money.

If you are a resident of Portland and fall victim to these scammers with financial loss, you are encouraged to file a report by calling the Portland Police Bureau's Non-Emergency line at (503) 823-3333.

Related Slideshow: Crime Trends in Portland - Good News and Bad News

The Portland Police Bureau's Strategic Services Division and the Criminology and Criminal Justice program at Portland State University (PSU) have partnered to provide an interactive tool to provide a longer term look at crime trends.

The interactive data shows the geographic distribution of crime in the city; and reveals insights into crime data.

See key findings below.

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Vandalism

GOOD NEWS: Overall, the news in Portland is positive regarding incidents of vandalism, but the decline has not been as rapid as some other crimes.

Vandalism has remained relatively consistent for the past five years.

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Domestic

GOOD NEWS: Domestic assaults saw significant decline in the late 1990s, but have been fairly consistent in the past five years.

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Guns

GOOD NEWS: The number of gun related crimes has seen the greatest declines of any of the tracked crime sectors.

Gun related crimes decreased 80%.

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Bikes

BAD NEWS: The theft bikes has seen an 83% increase. Some of this is tied to the increase in biking, but the crime has been the biggest blemish on the crime trends.

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Robbery

GOOD NEWS: Street Robbery is down more than 25 years, but it has been fairly stagnant during the past five years.

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Non-Domestic Assaults

GOOD NEWS: The number of non-domestic assaults has remained relatively stagnant over the past five years.

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GOOD NEWS: Home breakins are down significantly, but like other categories (non-domestic assault and robbery) it has remained fairly constant during the past five years.

Over the 25 years residential robberies are down over 70%.