PERU—Clinton Delano of Peru reports that he got an IRS scam phone call twice last week. He watches channel 13 and saw their report about people getting scam calls from the IRS. “I never expected to get one,” he said. He didn’t recognize the caller ID on his phone but answered the call anyway. The recording said something about the IRS and also gave him a number to call, but since he had seen channel 13s story about IRS scams he was aware of this scam and didn’t call them back.
According to the WGME channel 13 website, the IRS is reminding taxpayers that they will never ask for payment over the phone. Instead, the IRS will send a letter if you actually owe any money.
The IRS says another tip-off that the call is a scam is the claim that you will go immediately to jail if you don’t pay. IRS agents also say to never wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram. If you receive any calls similar to this, you should hang up and report it to the attorney general’s office.
A Feb. 17 Sun Journal article by Bonnie Washuk also describes the IRS and other scam epidemics. According to the article, experts recommend letting calls go to voice mail for screening. City of Lewiston Lt. Mike McGonagle says “Never, never give out your bank number, your checking account number. Do not wire any money.” “You need to be firm and say ‘I’m not interested’ and hang up.”
mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net
Send questions/comments to the editors.
