IRS phone scam takes more than $73,000 this year in one city alone

An aggressive phone scam by imposters pretending to be the IRS has taken more than $73,000 from Fort Worth residents this year, police said.

Fort Worth police said the callers convince victims they owe money to the IRS and threaten them with arrest, deportation, or suspension of a business or driver’s license if they don’t pay immediately.

Police and city officials are warning residents and asking people to spread the word to friends and family so others will not fall for the trick. In some cases, a hostile caller tells victims they are being followed in person or via GPS.

Last week, a scammer called Charles Khanamoko of Fort Worth and told him he needed to pay $2,000 in delinquent taxes owed from 2001, and that if he didn’t pay he would be arrested.

Khanamoko, 61, told the caller that in 2001 he was living in Denver, Colo., and used professionals from H&R Block to file his taxes.

“I said I was going to call H&R Block, and he said, ‘They’ll go to jail too,’ ” Khanamoko said. “Then I offered to let him talk to my wife, and he told me if I got her involved, she would also go to jail.”

Feeling a bit irate, and even a little scared, Khanamoko finally told the caller, “Do what you have to do.”

The caller replied, “Police will be there in 30 minutes,” Khanamoko said.

A call to H&R Block, who told him about the scam, eased Khanamoko’s mind.

His wife, Nillie Khanamoko, said the ordeal was “frightening.” Both receive Social Security disability benefits and help each other with day-to-day tasks.

“He helps me a lot. For him to be arrested and taken to jail, he was really concerned with what would happen to me,” she said.

Complaints number 353,770 in nation

Charles Khanamoko didn’t report the call to authorities. Luckily, he didn’t give up any money, which is not the case for many. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received 353,770 imposter complaints nationwide, including 19,459 from Texas.

So far this year, 172 complaints related to the IRS imposter scam have been filed with the Fort Worth Police Department. Most involved a call saying the victim owes the IRS back taxes and that the agency has filed a lawsuit against the victim, obtained a warrant or both.

Of those reports, 32 resulted in monetary losses ranging from $200 to $8,000 each, totaling more than $73,000, not to mention the stress and fear victims experienced, according to the Fort Worth Police Economic Crimes Unit.

“When one victim told the scammer she didn’t have enough money to pay the $6,000 that she owed, they convinced her to send them all of the money in her bank account,” said Sgt. Rich Demore, economic crimes supervisor.

The caller usually has a thick foreign accent and works to convince victims by passing them off to a supervisor or case manager. Often the victim can hear what sounds like a call center in the background, adding to the realism. The con artist also provides the name of the investigator or officer and in most cases an ID and case number, all of which are fake, Demore said.

The scammers tell victims they need to pay immediately or they will be arrested, sometimes threatening to freeze bank accounts or seize homes. They are also warned not to talk to anyone about the matter.

According to police, the most common method of getting the money is by telling victims the IRS has partnered with iTunes, so they will accept iTunes gift cards as payment for back taxes. Once the victim buys the cards, they are asked to read the numbers on the backs of the cards, and the scammer uses that number to make purchases.

“Within a few minutes to a few hours the money is gone,” Demore said.

Other common methods are to ask victims to wire the money via MoneyGram or Western Union, or to purchase a prepaid debit card. Police found that in most cases, after the money is received, scammers tell victims there was an error and more money is owed, repeating the process until the victim stops sending money.

“If I could only provide one piece of advice … slow the conversation down, take a few deep breaths and call a friend. Tell the caller to give you a number and you will call them back,” Demore said. “The scammer will yell that you must not hang up or you will go to jail. Don’t worry — hang up and call a friend and then make a report with the FTC or call the police.”

More information about tax scams can be found on the IRS website.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "IRS phone scam takes more than $73,000 this year in one city alone."