Now that tax season is upon us the Mt .Carmel Police Department would like to warn residence of scams being used in this area. Below are some of the scams.
A common scam at this time is where a person calls and states they are an IRS Agent. The person tells the individual they are behind on taxes. The caller then tells the individual they will be arrested shortly if they do not wire them money. First, The IRS will not call you and threaten to arrest you if you don’t pay taxes. The IRS will not ask you to “wire” them the funds. If you receive a phone call from someone stating they are from the IRS it’s best to hang up and contact your accountant.
Another scam affecting our area is the Facebook lottery scam. Facebook is not holding a lottery drawing where you can win hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions. This scam tells the winner they have won a large sum of money but in order to receive the prize money they must first pay taxes on their winnings. The caller has the individual wire money to an off-shore bank account. The “winner” is supposed to receive their money shortly after making the wire transfer.
If you receive a phone call from a friend or relative stating they have been arrested in Mexico, call that person to see if they are really in Mexico. If you can’t reach them contact another family member to see if they know where there that relative/friend is located. Thanks to social media callers can obtain family information from the internet. Do not wire money to Mexico unless you know 100% sure the money is going to a family member.
Publishing Clearing House will never call you and ask you to wire them money in order to receive your winnings. Publishing Clearing House will contact you in other ways but will never request you wire them money.
If you have never been to Canada and purchased a lotto ticket, there is a good chance you didn’t win their lotto. Canada will not request you to wire them money for your winnings.
A person from Nigeria emailing you in need of some help moving money out of his Country to the United States is worth deleting. This scam will state the sender will request help and in return you will receive a large sum of money.
A common scam in this area is the secret shopper scam. The scammer will have you deposit a fraudulent check and then send them a portion of that check. When it clears your bank it will be a fraudulent check and you will be responsible for the balance.
In conclusion, if you are contacted and asked to wire money to Nigeria, Sudan, Jamaica, the Bahamas, or any other country, there is a good chance it is a scam.
If you have questions or concerns reference a phone call, email, or letter in the mail, please contact the Mt .Carmel Police Department before you send your money to one of these organizations.
