Police warn of IRS phone scam

Lake Forest police are warning taxpayers about telephone scams led by con artists purporting to be Internal Revenue Service agents.

Since March 2014, the IRS has reported that individuals have stolen money as a result of fraud perpetrated by phone.

The IRS says scammers may use fake names and IRS badge numbers; may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim's social security number; spoof the IRS toll free number on the caller ID to make it appear that it is a legitimate call from the IRS; send bogus IRS emails to victims; emit background noise of other calls being made to mimic a call center; and after threatening victims with jail time or driver's license revocations, they hang up and call back pretending to be from the local police or Illinois Secretary of State.

Those who may have been targeted should report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484, and file a complaint at FTC.gov.