Bartlett resident loses $8,000 in scam

A Bartlett resident was scammed out of $8,000 when he received a phone call around 1 p.m. June 17 from someone claiming to be with the U.S. Government, Bartlett police said in a report.

The caller told the resident he was a victim of identity theft and needed to pay the money for new IDs and documents. He was instructed to wire the money through Money Gram at three different stores, police said.

After he complied, he received another call from someone claiming to be with the IRS stating he owed $18,000 in back taxes for accounts he had in India. He realized he had been scammed and did not send the additional money, according to the police report.