Tax scam reported in Pinal County

Pinal County Treasurer Dodie Doolittle said her office has received calls regarding a tax scam targeting some local residents.

“Our office has been contacted by residents saying they have received messages from a person claiming to be with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration,” Treasurer Doolittle stated.  “They are told that their address is under Federal investigation.  I am forwarding on a statement from the Office of the Inspector General regarding this scam and how to report if you receive a call from these scammers.”

From the Office of Inspector General:
There are numerous telephone and email scams in which individuals claim to be employees of the Treasury Department.  These scammers often state that they are from the “Department of Legal Affairs,” offer grant money in exchange for you wiring a small payment, or threaten to arrest you within a short period of time unless payment is made. Do not provide personal information or payment to these individuals.  Their actions are crimes under Titles 18 and 31 of the United States Code, and the Treasury Office of Inspector General is working to stop them.

If you have received a call or an email that you suspect is fraudulent, report it [email protected] with a description of the communication.

If the call or email contained claims related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or taxes, you must report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) athttps://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml or 1-800-366-4484.

When reporting a suspicious call, telephone carriers require that you provide the exact date and time that you received the call(s) and the geographic location and time zone where you received the call.  For example: “I  received a suspicious call from telephone number XXX-XXX-XXX to my home phone in Tallahassee, Florida (Eastern Time Zone) on October 23, 2015 at 9:23AM claiming that there is a legal action against me from the Treasury Department of Legal Affairs.”