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Scam calls threaten people during tax time

5 years 11 months 1 day ago Tuesday, April 17 2018 Apr 17, 2018 April 17, 2018 6:15 PM April 17, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

DARROW - It's tax day, and some people have been reporting scam calls. The callers claim to be from the IRS and often threaten the person on the other end of the line.

Jerry Summers says he was called by multiple numbers nine times in a row. One of those callers got Summers on the phone and stated he was being sued by the IRS.

"It's like a call center, you can hear lots of people in the background," said Summers.

The caller, who is speaking in broken English, asked Summers to verify his name and zip code. Summers stated to the caller that this information should already be known if he is indeed in that much trouble.

Summers, who has a background in fraud investigations says he picked up on what was happening immediately.

"They're almost like reading from a script or something," he said.

The caller, still vague continues to tell Summers that there are serious allegations against him in the lawsuit that's been filed by the IRS. Which is alarming to Summers who believes many people might be scared by a threat like this and reveal too much information.

"It's people who really don't know any better and are doing what they think they're supposed to do," he said.

As the call continues, Summers says he hears a person that appears to be speaking next to the caller. It's not long before Summers hears his first name spoken to him over the phone. The caller has his first name.

"I said, 'well, you should know my name,'" he said. "You called me."

Summers never verified his real name with the caller and the call ended soon after that. He filed a report with the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Tuesday morning.

The IRS says if you don't owe taxes or have no reason to think that you do, don't give out any information and hang up.

For more information about scam phone calls, visit the IRS website.

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