The La Crosse Police Department would like to warn area residents that phone scammers are continuing to make fake Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections calls. The fake IRS collection agents, using both “live” and “robo-calls”, are demanding that the victim make an immediate payment on an overdue tax bill. They demand personal details or banking information, and then they threaten the victim with arrest or jail time if they don’t comply. Unfortunately, these scammers seem to know quite a bit about the victim and trick them into thinking that they are receiving a legitimate call.
The phone scammers are also using “Caller ID Spoofing”, wherein the caller “spoofs” victims’ cell phones and home phone caller ID units into displaying incorrect or fake information, all in an attempt to gain a measure of trust from the victim. The phone numbers being used in this “Caller ID Spoofing” scam have recently included 9-1-1.
However, this is a SCAM!
Both the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and IRS would like to remind consumers that the IRS will never call out of the blue, especially regarding overdue tax bills. Any official request for payment by the IRS is first mailed to the consumer through an official bill.
Never give out your personal details, banking information, passwords, or access to your computer to any unknown person, agency, or company. Always hang up, find a publicly listed phone number in the phone book or online, and call the person, agency, or company back to verify the request.
For more detailed information and ways to protect yourself against this scam, visit the IRS Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts webpage.
La Crosse PD Newsroom 