HOULTON, Maine — Houlton Police Chief Joe McKenna is cautioning area residents to be leery of ongoing telephone scams after his department received a number of complaints in recent weeks.
“We learned from officials at Katahdin Trust, that a number of elderly residents were victims of a number of different scams,” he said.
One of the schemes involves an automated message supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service saying the person is going to be sued if they do not respond to the message. Another is a live caller, claiming to be a member of the IRS seeking additional information on the person’s accounts.
The perpetrators often have some of the individual’s personal information already, and have tricked caller-ID devices so that it appears the phone call is actually from the IRS, McKenna said.
Another scam involved telephone calls from an individual claiming to be from the customer’s local bank, requesting information to set up a new account.
“Unfortunately, the elderly tend to panic and give out their information,” he said. “They don’t seek out any assistance from family or friends.”
Several local residents were victimized, but McKenna said he did not know how much money the individuals lost.
Telephone, and e-mail scams are not new, he added.
“I dealt with a lot of this type of thing when I was in Florida, because we have a lot of retirees down there,” he said. “It seems to be new up here and unfortunately some of our residents have been taken advantage of.”
No one from the IRS will call and ask for personal information, McKenna advised.
“You will receive a certified letter in the mail,” he said.
According to the official IRS website (www.irs.gov), victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.
Other victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information. If the phone isn’t answered, the scammers often leave an “urgent” call-back request.”
“Note that the IRS will never: 1) call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; 2) demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; 3) require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card; 4) ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 5) threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.”
McKenna offered the following advice to local residents to keep their financial identity secure.
• Never give out personal account information or Social Security numbers to an individual over the phone.
• Have family members look after their elderly loved ones.
• If a neighbor is elderly, check in with them and let them know what they should and should not do in these situations.
“Once someone accesses your bank accounts, everything in there can be taken,” he said. “If one bank is having this issue, you can pretty much rest assured that others are too.”
