Tax scam hits San Diego County, residents cautioned

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office is aware of a large-scale, nationwide phone scam. San Diego County residents are among those being targeted.

Beware of callers claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), telling individuals they owe taxes and must use a pre-paid card or wire transfer to pay immediately. Other threats by the fake IRS caller include “There is a warrant for your arrest,” and “The police are coming now to your residence.”

The callers often know partial information about their intended victims, such as the last four digits of their social security numbers. They often call a second time pretending to be the police department, supporting their bogus story of enforcement if money is not paid, and send follow-up bogus e-mails.

If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS asking for a payment or wanting to send a refund, here’s what to do:

If you think you owe federal taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.

Call and report the incident to TIGTA at 800-366-4484.

You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.

The IRS will never request personal or financial information by e-mail, texting or any social media. You should forward scam e-mails to [email protected]. Don’t open any attachments or click on any links in those e-mails.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is handling the complaints of this nature. Please access the following websites for more information and assistance:

http://www.irs.gov or http://www.tigta.gov