IRS telephone scams in the Artesia area are becoming more bizarre.
Artesia Police Department Cmdr. Lindell Smith reports the scams – which traditionally only involve a caller identifying themselves as an Internal Revenue Service agent and demanding money for unpaid tax debt – have now escalated to callers demanding items such as Wal-Mart gift cards and/or telling their intended victims to meet them “in an empty field without telling anyone where they are going.”
“Please, please, please do not think this is the way business is done by the IRS or anyone in the business world that tells you that money is owed,” said Smith.
The IRS performs the vast majority of its communications regarding tax debt by mail, and in the rare event it contacts individuals by phone, it will only be after several written communications have been issued. Call recipients also always have the option of hanging up and calling the IRS themselves via one of its known official numbers.
The IRS will most definitely never request gift cards or ask that tax debtors meet them somewhere to remit payment.
“People should have a general idea to whom they owe money and should reasonably be in contact with them,” said Smith. “Blind telephone calls and other attempts to get money from a person can be a scam, and people need to be cautious.
“There are very few circumstances, if any, that money might be recovered, and more importantly, your safety should be your number-one concern.”
