SALINE CO., Ill.—Saline County Sheriff D. Keith Brown has sent out a message to folks about becoming a victim of a scam during tax time.
Brown says there are numerous scams that go on all year long, some of them to part you from your money that occur at specific times of the year. Tax season, spring break and spring traveling, he says, are among those scams being used.
Tax season can be used as another tool for criminals to obtain personal information. One of the new scams going around is, residents receive a call from someone claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and want to confirm some of your information or even discuss your yearly tax filing.
The IRS doesn’t call and discuss your tax claim over the phone. Do not give a caller any personal information over the phone. This inciudes banking numbers or social security numbers or birthrates.
Another scam that is making its way around again is an older scam but with a new twist. The caller places a call to usually an older resident and proclaims to be a grandchild that is traveling and has either been injured or is in jail and needs money. The new twist is the use of Facebook to get personal information of relatives and activities. In addition the scammer may even use character actors to meet the age of the potential grandchild. Oftentimes the requests are for $3,000 to $5,000.
If something seems suspicious, ask for a call back number and location information. Then contact local law enforcement who can assist on whether the event is false.
Never send money through Western Union; this is usually a heads-up that this is a scam.
If you receive notification that you won a lottery or prize and you didn’t enter the lottery, then it is more than likely a scam.
Never give out personal information, Sheriff Brown advises, adding, “If it sounds too good to be true or sounds suspicious, it probably is!”