IRS scammers again target Sonomans

The letters I-R-S vocalized in that order strike fear and loathing into otherwise unperturbable persons.|

A few minutes before nine on Thursday of last week, a phone rang in the Sonoma Index Tribune newsroom. A reporter picked up, and a recorded voice began speaking. “This is the IRS calling about a significant issue. We are prosecuting a criminal case against you, and need you to call us immediately.” The voice reeled off a number in unaccented English, and then the line went dead.

Despite previous encounters of precisely the same kind, despite reading repeatedly about these kinds of scams, the letters I-R-S vocalized in that order strike fear and loathing into otherwise unperturbable persons.

Also, curiosity. What happens in the return call?

Darcy Proctor, an administrative aide who answered the phone at the Sonoma Police Department, sighed into the phone when asked if other reports had been made. “Yeah, about nine times a week for the past eight years,” she said. “It’s a complete scam, just like the PGE hoax and the grandson-in-a-Mexican-jail hoax.”

“In fact,” Proctor added, “we get that same call here at the police department, warning us that they’re coming to arrest us. They’re really good, really pushy.”

It perhaps goes without saying that law enforcement never announces pending arrests, particularly arrests of its own self. Proctor urged the public to remember that the IRS never calls individuals, electing instead to correspond by mail. She warned that people should never, ever send money to the individuals initiating these kinds of calls, and praised local banks for helping police the issue.

Somewhat surprisingly, Darcy dispensed with the assumption that the elderly are the most vulnerable targets. “We get people in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s falling for this all the time,” Proctor said.

The public is reminded that professional grifters are prowling phone books and data bases, looking for people to fleece. If you receive a call, whether recorded or live, the best course of action is to simply hang up.

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