Monmouth Residents: Beware of IRS Phone Scam

Reported by Freehold Patch and according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni, phone scammers are targeting local residents with claims of owing tax money to the IRS and threatening to send people to jail if the money doesn’t get paid immediately. Here's what you need to know.

“The phone call comes unannounced and unexpected,” Gramiccioni explained. “The voice on the other end of the phone claims to be a representative from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and quickly informs you that there is thousands of dollars owed to the IRS for back taxes.”

The typically hostile caller demands to know how you plan to pay the bogus debt. That is usually followed with threats of calling in the local police, jail time, deportation, the closure of a business, revoking a driver’s license and any other scare tactic to force the call recipient to pay.

A Facebook comment on the Freehold Patch's site from "LL" said:

Scammers DO call the police. I had the freehold police dept. at my door with guns drawn because the scammer called and said my husband killed his wife and was ready to surrender . ( my husband cursed the scammer and hung up the scammer called back and the caller I D was listed as freehold township he cursed them out again after they threatened to send the police) I understand the police were doing there job this was an extremely upsetting event for my children to see the police with guns drawn on their father.

REMEMBER!

The IRS will never:

• Call you about taxes you owe without first mailing you an official notice.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.