One of our Callaway Bank employees recently shared some good information about a scam phone call she received from a party posing as the IRS and attempting to collect money. The person even threatened to issue a warrant for her arrest. Below is the story of the phone call our employee received. Take the time to read her story so that you know what to do if these fraudsters contact you.
Our employee did all the right things, but someone not familiar with these type of scams could be easily scared into believing the threats the caller was making, falling for the scam and sending money. These fraudsters were very aggressive. Make sure to share this information with your friends and family.
IRS Fraud Call:
“The caller said they were from the IRS and they needed to inform me of a case against me. They gave me a lot of information, how much money I owed, and indicated the IRS would be issuing a warrant for my arrest if I did not want to work with them. They further indicated that if I did not want to talk to them I would be contacted by the local law enforcement. About 2-3 minutes after I hung up I got another call from someone identifying themselves as the Fulton Police Dept. My biggest concerns about this particular scam is they were able to give me my address, my caller id identified the calls as coming from Dept of Treasury and The City of Fulton. They were very aggressive. I contacted the police department to let them know about the call in case others were also being called. They called the number back that I took down from my caller id and said it was coming from Fulton, New York.”
The sad fact is that fraudsters are getting really good at using technology – like getting Caller ID numbers to show up as “legitimate” sources – to convince unsuspecting people that they are who they say they are. If you ever receive a call from anyone asking for any of your personal information or money, tell the person on the phone that you’d like to verify that they are who they say they are by calling the company yourself. Legitimate companies will understand you wanting to verify. Fraudsters can get very angry or aggressive if you tell them you’re going to do that or they may provide you another number to call. Don’t use this number to verify their information. Hang up and locate the company or organizations actual phone number via your computer or phone book to verify that they were the ones who called.  Just make sure that you always check into their claims before sending any money or giving out any information.