Officials Warning NY Residents About Scammers Posing As Treasury Department
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As tax season gets underway, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office is reporting a disturbing surge of convincing-sounding calls from people posing as Treasury officials.
As WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported, the call sounds urgent and ominous; enforcement action against you by the United States Treasury. The caller says you owe taxes and if you don't pay up now, you'll go to jail.
But state and local officials want you to know it's just a scam -- someone overseas lurking in the shadows behind the phone, looking to swindle trusting folks, Adams reported.
"The callers can operate with a sense of urgency that if they don't take immediate action, there is going to be some kind of harm that is going to come to them," said Yonkers Police Det. Lt. Patrick McCormick. "Either hang up the phone, take the information down, but take no action."
Sometimes the caller ID number appears to come from the IRS, Adams reported. But that is fake too.
Mamaroneck has been plagued with these calls.
"Do not give out information over the phone," Mayor Norman Rosenbloom said.
Another scam officials are warning about is hackers who are using people's personal information to steal their tax refunds.