The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office has received multiple calls and reports from residents in Sequim, Port Angeles and Forks regarding phone calls from people claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service.
This is a recurring phone scam, officials said.
The Federal Trade Commission details the IRS Scam and how to report calls below:
• Report the incident to TIGTA online or at 800-366-4484.
• File a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint.
From the complaint homepage, select “Other” and then “Impostor Scams.” In the notes, please include “IRS Telephone Scam.”
• If it’s an e-mail, forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. Don’t open any attachments or click on any links in those e-mails.
• If you owe — or think you owe — federal taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 or go to irs.gov. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
The IRS doesn’t ask people to pay with prepaid debit cards or wire transfers and doesn’t ask for credit card numbers over the phone.
When the IRS contacts people about unpaid taxes, they do it by postal mail, not by phone. Read Government Impostor Scams for more tips on avoiding a scam.
And what if you got a robocall from Heather or someone else? In addition to reporting it:
• Hang up the phone. Don’t press 1 to speak to a live operator and don’t press any other number to get your number off the list. If you respond by pressing any number, it will probably just lead to more robocalls.
• Consider contacting your phone provider and asking them to block the number, and whether they charge for that service. Remember that telemarketers change Caller ID information easily and often, so it might not be worth paying a fee to block a number that will change.
