On Thursday, June 30, a local man called the Madison County Carrier stating that he received a call from a man who claimed to be with the IRS. During the phone call, the local man was told he owed a total of $90,000 to the IRS. The man on the other end of the phone asked for the local man's bank account information, as well as his social security number.
The local man refused to give out the requested information and was promptly hung up on. Wanting to investigate further, the local man called the number back and a woman answered, also claiming to be with the IRS. The local man informed that in the background, he could hear a lot of people talking in an environment that seemed like a “boiler room operation.” The number the attempted scam was performed under was (308) 390-2303.
The IRS urges the public to remain alert for scam phone calls.
Be advised, federal agencies do not call or e-mail individuals threatening them or demanding that they send money. Scammers often spoof caller ID information, and these phone calls are fraudulent even if they appear to be coming from a federal agency’s legitimate phone number. If you receive a call like this or any other call that seems like a scam, hang up immediately and report the call. All types of fraud schemes and scams can be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.
In addition, if you think you have been the victim of an IRS impersonation scam, please file a report online with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/.
You may also call the Madison County Sheriff's Office at (850) 973-4151.