Crime & Safety

Downers Grove Police Warns Residents of IRS Phone Scam

Police say that if someone calls claiming to be from the IRS and uses threatening language if you don't pay immediately, it's probably not the IRS.


Downers Grove Police are warning residents of an IRS phone scam that has recently surfaced in the Downers Grove-area.

Police say the resident receives a call that appears to be from the IRS. The caller tells the resident that they owe taxes, which must be paid immediately.  

Residents may also receive official looking emails associated with the scam, that pose as communications from the U.S. government.

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These criminals are armed with enough information and technological knowledge to convince unsuspecting victims that they owe money because they can recite the last four digits of victims’ social security numbers, police said.

Payments to these scam artists have been made with prepaid debit cards or through a wire transfer – payment methods that the IRS does not use.

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Police say that if someone calls claiming to be from the IRS and uses threatening language if you don’t pay immediately, it’s probably not the IRS. 

The IRS usually contacts those who owe taxes by mail, not by phone. The mail should be addressed to you only, if there is another name on the envelope, it may be some type of scam.

Downers Grove Police ask residents who believe they have been victims of the IRS scam, or any type of telephone or mail fraud, to contact police to make a report.

If the scam involves the IRS, you may also report the incident directly to the Treasury’s Inspector General at 800-366-4484.


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