IRS Scams in Eden Prairie

Consider this situation: your phone rings and the caller ID says “911.” The caller introduces himself as an Eden Prairie Police Officer and says that you owe taxes to the IRS. The caller goes on to say that if you don’t pay the money, he will come to your house and arrest you. What would you do?

What you should do is hang up as soon as possible and do not engage the caller as it is clearly a scam. No officer would be involved in collecting taxes and if anyone calls you from the Police Department the caller ID will show a City phone number rather than 911. In the case noted above, which occurred on Jan. 15, when the homeowner hung up the phone and pushed “call back” on his phone, it directed his call to the real Eden Prairie Police Department number.

Scams like this have been around for years but making the call appear as if it came from a police department is relatively new. In mid-December EPPD officers responded to a call from a resident who had sent $4,900 to a scammer who said the resident owed back taxes and would be arrested if they did not pay immediately. While speaking to that caller the resident received a call on another line that showed up as “911,” leading them to believe the call was legitimate.

The caller instructed the resident to purchase Visa cards in amounts totaling $4,900 and then to give the caller the access information for the cards. After doing that the resident received a second call saying they owed an additional $12,000 and needed to pay immediately. The resident began to get suspicious and notified police. This case was turned over to the IRS. In the majority of cases involving this type of fraud, the stolen money is never recovered as it is very difficult to trace.

In another case in December, an Eden Prairie family wired $5,600 to people claiming to be from the IRS and threatening to arrest them if they did not comply immediately. The caller stayed on the phone with the family the entire time as they traveled to four different services to wire the money.

Similar calls received by Eden Prairie residents and reported to us include:

• January 4, a resident received a call from “911” demanding $7,000 in prepaid cards.
• December 7, a resident received a call from someone stating they were from the IRS and demanding $5,000.
• December 3, a resident received a call demanding money owed and telling homeowner they knew where she lived.

Please call the EPPD if you believe you have been the victim of a scam. If you believe you have been a victim of an IRS impersonation scam you can report it to the IRS using this form.

This post was originally published on January 25, 2016 on the Eden Prairie Police Department’s blog.