Recently, the Benton Police Department was sent a recording from an individual who received a suspicious voicemail.
The voicemail was allegedly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and it claimed they were filing a lawsuit against them. It provided the individual with an actual phone number to call where they would provide them with more information. Then they received another voicemail, also allegedly from the IRS, claiming they had an active arrest warrant and to call a number to take care of the issue.
Thankfully, the individual who passed this along to us didn’t fall for the scam and become a victim. The numbers provided in the voicemail, 209-676-8870 and 410-793-7581, were checked and found to be linked to recent phishing scams. Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity.
The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail. They NEVER ask for credit or debit card information over the phone. Typically, when individuals call the numbers back they encounter insulting or hostile tactics designed to scare potential victims into providing personal information. For more information visit: www.IRS.gov and search the keyword ‘scam.’
Anyone with information about this scam is encouraged to contact the Benton Police Department at 501-778-1171 or 501-315-TIPS. Individuals also may send us an anonymous crime tip about this incident to CRIMES (274637) with the keyword BNPD in the body of the text or go to www.crimereports.com to leave a tip. A crime tip can also be submitted via the official Benton Police Department app found on ITunes and Google Play.
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