IRS scam hits Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Police Department wants to warn residents of a pervasive telephone scam involving a call from someone pretending to be with the IRS.

"There have been some people that have been victimized by this, that have sent the money," Police Chief Dave Ruffin said. "People have to be very, very careful if they get calls for this."

Potential victims are called by scammers who say they are with the IRS and the person owes back taxes and needs to send money right away or they will be arrested. The department has seen an increase in fraud calls in the past month.

"The fraud has actually gone as far as allegedly involving the FBI to come and arrest them if the money is not paid promptly," Ruffin said.

One scam victim was lucky this week, as the department was able to intercept money the person attempted to mail out. The package was stopped at the post office and the money returned.

"We're not sure how they're selecting their victims, but like most frauds, they figure out a way to target a large amount of people and honestly, they don't have to be successful that often to make it lucrative," Ruffin said.

The IRS issued a scam alert in April as the filing season came to an end, urging residents to remain on guard as the scams would likely continue to happen following filing season.

The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification through the mail of any tax due. The IRS will never ask for credit or debit card information over the phone.

Ruffin also said the department has recently seen an email scam involving the U.S. Postal Service. Postal customers receive bogus emails about a package delivery or online postage charges that contain a link that, when opened, installs a malicious virus that can steal personal information from the person's computer.

Ruffin encourages anyone who received the fraudulent call or email to contact police. He added the department is investigating the incidents with other jurisdictions.