LIMA — Scammers are flooding the local phone lines claiming they are with the IRS and will put people in jail if they don’t pay back taxes.
Local police agencies received more than 50 phone calls Wednesday from people saying they have received such calls. People reported the scammers had a distinct Middle Eastern accent. Police officials put the number into an Internet search engine and found a website in Arabic, Chief Mike Keith of the Shawnee Township Police Department said.
“The caller is saying they are the IRS or Treasury Department, the person owes money and they need to make payment immediately or be jailed,” Keith said.
Allen County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jimmy Everett said some callers reported the scammer said their IRS return was misfiled and they owe more money.
All such calls are fraudulent, police officials said. The IRS does not call people by phone seeking money, they said.
Lt. Andy Green of the Lima Police Department said the IRS will not demand money without giving the person a chance to dispute or appeal the amount allegedly owed. The agency also will not ask for a credit card number over the phone or threaten to involve local police if taxes are not paid.
Keith said he has not heard of anyone falling for the scam and giving money to the scammers but he said it could happen.
Most of the calls have been made to land lines, Keith said.
Everett tells people to hang up.
The FBI has a reporting site on the Internet that allows the agency to track scams hitting the United States. The site is http://ic3.gov.
