03/27/2024
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By: Charlotte Smith

Bladenboro PoliceIn today’s world it is hard to trust strangers on the other end of your phone line. According to Chief Chris Hunt with the Bladenboro Police Department, Bladen County residents have received phone calls from scammers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service, otherwise known as the IRS, only to find out the calls were from scammers.

The IRS scammers try to create a sense of urgency for the person receiving the call, they make threats of having a person arrested, and have several techniques to try and make the situation seem as though the scammer calling is really from the IRS, according to Hunt.

Hunt listed some of the techniques the scammers use to con people into giving them money over the telephone. The scammers mask their number making it appear the call is really coming from the IRS when it is shown on the caller ID. Other approaches used by the scammers are the posing IRS representative will send an email or try to transfer your call to another person to make the call you received seem legitimate.

The con-artists make such a convincing case, when law enforcement tells the resident the call was a scam, residents don’t trust law enforcement right away.

Hunt wanted to give some pointers of what the official IRS will never do to tax payers. They are as follows:

1.The IRS will never demand payment without giving you a chance to appeal what they say you owe in taxes.

2. The IRS will never require you to make payments with a pre-paid debit card.

3. The IRS will never threaten to bring law enforcement to arrest you .

4. The IRS will always send certified letters you have to sign to receive about any monies you may owe them.

5. If you have questions about an IRS bill, visit IRS.gov.

6. Never give your personal information out over the telephone.

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