Better Business Bureau® serving Central & Eastern Kentucky is warning central Kentuckians about a phone scam from con artists pretending to be with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“We have received over 100 calls as of early Tuesday afternoon from residents reporting this scam, and we expect that number to increase,” said Jack Frank, President & CEO of the BBB serving Central & Eastern Kentucky. “People receiving the call report a recorded message stating that a lawsuit will be filed unless the taxpayer returns the call immediately to the IRS to make good on back taxes owed. The calls are really from con artists pretending to be with the IRS to try and trick people into paying money to them.”
This phone scam has been going on for well over a year, according to the IRS, but has hit the Lexington and central Kentucky very hard this week. No caller has reported falling for the scam, but some were not certain if it was legitimate, causing them to contact the BBB for verification. All the phone numbers that residents have reported from their Caller ID or the voice messages are different. The con artists are believed to be overseas and using computer technology to make their phone calls appear to be coming from inside the United States, particularly the Washington, D.C. area.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
BBB and the IRS advise residents NOT to return the calls. The IRS also advises that their agency will NEVER:
- Call to demand immediate payment over the phone, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
- Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
- 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.
More information is available at www.irs.gov. Consumers who wish to check out questionable phone calls with BBB may call 
(859) 259-1008 or 1-800-866-666, or log on towww.bbb.org/lexington.
