B OYNTON B EACH P OLICE D EPARTMENT OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS
100 East Boynton Beach Blvd. Boynton Beach, FL 33425
Jeffrey S. Katz Chief of Police
Phone (561) 742-6191 Fax (561) 742-6185
A CFA Accredited Law Enforcement Agency
Stephanie Slater Public Information Officer SLATERS@BBFL.US (561) 436-4806
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 9, 2014
Another victim loses thousands of dollars in IRS scam Less than a month after a Boynton Beach woman was scammed out of nearly $5,000, another resident has been duped into thinking she owed the Internal Revenue Service money on her taxes. The 72-year-old woman is now out $12,000. The victim told police on Monday that she received a call from a man claiming to be with the IRS who said that she owed taxes and would be arrested if it wasn’t paid immediately. The victim went to several stores and bought 24 Green Dot prepaid cards valued at $500 each. She then called the man back and provided him with the card numbers. When the man called her back and told her the IRS needed another $12,000, she realized it was scam and called her son, who told her to notify police. Last month, a 68-year-old Boynton Beach woman fell victim to the scam. In fact, there are victims of this scam across the country. The scam is so sophisticated that the suspects have found a way to make it seem as if they are calling from an actual IRS toll-free number (1-800829-1040). Boynton Beach Police are urging people to talk to their family members, especially seniors, about this scam and remind them that the IRS will never directly call you to ask for money. Some characteristics of this scam include: Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers; may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number; send bogus IRS emails to victims to support their calls. According to the IRS, the agency does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here is what the agency suggests you do: If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1-800-8291040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue. If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484. If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.