IRS scam targeting citizens

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The Internal Revenue Service calling scam is making the rounds through Indiana again.

As with past warnings on alleged government representatives calling to threaten immediate jailing for not cooperating with the person calling, the Indiana State Police reminds people to never give personal information to the caller. Such personal information to never give over the phone to an unverified caller includes bank account numbers, Social Security number, birth date and credit card numbers.

The most recent scam involves the phone number 347-389-0029.

State police say citizens should keep in mind that the phone numbers will change frequently. Whenever you receive a call claiming legal action is pending, or any of the hundreds of various scams that have the common thread of trying to get people to part with large sums of money, you can be certain the call is fraudulent.

A quick check citizens can make to confirm if a phone number is associated with a scam is to type the phone number into your favorite search engine. You’ll typically see the number has been reported as being associated to scam activity.

State police said these scams nearly always trace back to a foreign country, and it is virtually impossible to successfully prosecute the persons responsible for these criminal acts. Unfortunately, these scams will continue as long as a percentage of the population responds by sending money to the scammers, police said.

“When an unsolicited call comes to your home, business or cellphone and has the common factors of being threatening and demanding money, be assured that 99.9 percent of the time, it is a scam,” according to a news release from the state police. “Just hang up. They won’t call back. They will just move on to the next number looking for someone to victimize.”

For information on IRS scams, visit irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Warns-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam.

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