ROCKINGHAM — Shirley Jenkins was sitting at home Wednesday morning between 9:30 and 10, when the phone rang.
She said a woman on the other end was telling her she had defrauded the government and that a lawsuit would be taken out against her.
Jenkins said the caller wouldn’t say how much she allegedly owed or even who she was trying to reach.
“I told her, ‘You ain’t takin’ no lawsuit out on me,’” Jenkins said she told the woman, adding that she hasn’t had to file a return because she’s disabled. “I told her she had the wrong person, and she said, ‘I’ll call back.’”
But the caller never did.
Jenkins said she tried calling the number back about an hour later, but instead of anyone picking up, she said she heard a fax machine noise.
“People will do anything for money,” she said.
Jenkins said she’s had other calls from people asking for her birth date and then asking if she had a credit card.
She told her husband that if anyone calls and starts asking for certain information, to just hang up.
“Don’t give them no information,” she said. “I’m on to them. I know it’s a scam.”
Richmond County Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr. warns county residents not to send money by way of Walmart, Western Union or any other transfer service.
“This is a bogus call,” he said. “That’s not how the IRS operates.”
Clemmons said a legitimate IRS complaint would be sent through the mail, with a request to come into a local office, adding that the IRS will not discuss business over the phone.
The telephone numbers provided by Jenkins and Clemmons are similar, both with area codes from Seattle, Washington. Those numbers are 206-823-3364 and 206-823-3341.
Clemmons said he gave the scammer a fake name and was told he owed $9,000 and that they would send the local sheriff after him.
According to the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, telemarketing scams made up for the most consumer complaints in 2015.
Out of the total 19,088 complaints received, nearly 6,000 were related to telephone-related schemes.
In February, the IRS released a statement saying, “Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers.”
“Taxpayers across the nation face a deluge of these aggressive phone scams. Don’t be fooled by callers pretending to be from the IRS in an attempt to steal your money,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a statement. “We continue to say if you are surprised to be hearing from us, then you’re not hearing from us.”
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration announced in January that nearly 900,000 complaints had been received since October of 2013 and more than 5,000 victims had collectively paid more than $26.5 million as a result of the scam.
Koskinen said there are “many variations” that scammers use on their victims.
“The caller may threaten you with arrest or court action to trick you into making a payment,” he added. “Some schemes may say you’re entitled to a huge refund. These all add up to trouble.”
According to the IRS, scammers often alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling, and may use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate, as well as use the victim’s name, address and other personal information to make the call sound official.
There are five things the IRS says scammers will do that the agency does not:
• Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
Anyone who wishes to report a scam can contact the N.C. Attorney General’s Office at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM, or the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.