The Racine Police Department wants people to be aware of a scam involving the IRS calling citizens and telling them they owe money. This is an old scam that seems to come up every year during tax season. The scam consists of an automated call from the “IRS” saying that they owe money and will be taken to jail within 24 hours if they don’t pay.
The scam is extremely hard to investigate due to the method of payment that the scammers have victims pay by. The method usually involves having the victim go get some sort of gift card that they then have to give the number of to the scammer over the phone. The money off of the gift card is then spent almost immediately. It is also possible that they are told to wire transfer money to someone as well. In both cases it leaves police with little to follow up on in an investigation.
Please be aware of this scam and be careful not to give our personal information to anyone over the phone.
All media inquiries regarding this incident should be directed to my attention at (262) 635-7772.
