Recently, the Loveland Police Department has been fielding calls regarding a scam. Our citizens have reported receiving a phone call from a person who identifies himself as an employee of the US Treasury Department saying the call recipient owes the IRS money. The scammer tells the call recipient that if they do not make immediate payment, they will be arrested and brought before a judge.

In one particular case today, an employee of a local money-transfer store had a man come in with cash to make a transfer. The man was still on the phone with the person claiming to be the Treasury agent when he arrived at the store. Fortunately, this alert employee called the Loveland Emergency Communications Center. One of the Department’s communications specialists convinced the man not to transfer the money and sent an officer to talk to the man. The IRS has released the below information regarding these scams to help people identify them as fake.

The IRS reminds people that they can know pretty easily when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam. The IRS will never:
1. Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
2. Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
3. Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
4. Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
5. Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:
• If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.
• If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov.
• You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
Remember, too, the IRS does not use unsolicited email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.

Please contact the IRS if you receive a similar call asking for money and threatening arrest. We are notifying other local financial institutions about this scam.