Over the last several weeks, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office has taken several fraud reports involving an IRS telephone scam. The victims are receiving calls from subjects claiming to represent the IRS and claiming the victim is the subject of an IRS tax warrant. The subjects are requesting payment in the form of gift cards. The subjects claim if the victim does not pay, they will be arrested and all financial assets seized. This is a phone scam and is not a true call from the IRS. The IRS never makes phone calls to taxpayers and only corresponds by mail. Additionally, the IRS does not accept gift cards as a form of payment. If you receive such a call, do not provide any information and report the call to the Oregon Department of Justice, Consumer Hotline at 877-877-9392.
