From the desk of St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz
Continuing our series on online payment scams the Making Payments to Strangers and Tax Refunds and Penalty Scams are wide spread.
The Payment to a Stanger Scam
The Scammer either calls you or emails you claiming to be a lawyer, law enforcement agent, or other representative for a family member in distress who needs your immediate financial help. He says that a family member has been imprisoned or detained, and a payment must be made for their release, bail, fines, or some other payment. The Scammer even tries to impersonate your family member and knows things that most often only your family knows. Most of this information is probably found on your social media site or thorough other sites.
The IRS Scam
E-mails and phones calls are made by scammers claiming to be a representative from the IRS. The “representative” claims you owe a past due amount from a miscalculation on your return or recent tax audit you are unaware of and demands immediate payment with gift card or money gram to stop court proceedings. They even say that failure to pay the penalty they will issue an arrest warrant or in the case of a refund you must first make a payment to them.
The IRS website reports that if you receive a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, you should never give out personal information. Report the call to the IRS using their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.