The Brownstown Police Department is warning residents about a phone scam involving the IRS.

Chief Tom Hanner said he received a call Wednesday from the number 800-829-1040, and a man with a foreign accent said he was from the IRS. It wound up being a three-way call between that man, Hanner and a local resident.

The man said he was attempting to collect a debt owed to the IRS and went on to try to gain the resident’s personal information.

Hanner said after he hung up and tried to call the number back, it took him to an automated IRS line.

Hanner said this is the first time he has seen a scammer try to do a three-way call routing it through the police department. He said the scammer may have been trying to involve the police department so the resident would think it’s a legitimate call.

The police department does not and will not collect debts and has no affiliation with the IRS, and the IRS does not conduct business over the phone in an attempt to collect debt, Hanner said. People also should not give out their personal information, he added.