Categories: News, Schenectady County

The U.S. Treasury Department recently warned people to remain on alert for phone scammers claiming to be government representatives, and a Schenectady woman on Monday said she fended off just such a scammer.

Delores Inzero said she received a call from someone Monday morning claiming to be from the Treasury Department’s fraud unit, insisting she owed more than $3,000 in taxes for a prior year and ultimately threatening to send people to her home, saying she’d be taken away in handcuffs.

But Inzero saw through the ruse.

“I asked him if it was a scam,” Inzero, 78, said, “and he hung up.”

Inzero said she wanted to warn others who may get similar phone calls to help ensure that people don’t fall for the scam. She said she also got a call an hour later from a similar number related to a mortgage scam. She saw through that one, too.

Inzero’s description of the fake Treasury call matches a warning issued in March by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The federal inspector general’s office has received reports of more than 1 million such contacts since October 2013 and more than 5,500 victims who have collectively paid $29 million to the scammers.

The scam usually ends in demands to send money via prepaid debit cards, money orders or wire transfers from banks.





The first reports of the scam involved individuals posing as Internal Revenue Service agents. The treasury angle later folded into the scam.

“If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS or, in a new twist, the Treasury Department, and uses the threat of legal action if you do not pay immediately, that is a sign that it is not the IRS calling and your cue to hang up,” Inspector General J. Russell George said in a statement. “Again, do not engage with these callers. If they call you, hang up the telephone.”

The March press release claimed progress in combatting the scams, saying early attempts claimed a victim every 40 to 50 calls, while more recent attempts have needed 300 to 400 calls.

The Treasury Inspector General’s Office also announced a four-point counteroffensive, including using an autodialer to call the scammers demanding they stop; working with telephone companies to shut down the numbers used; publishing telephone numbers used on the internet; and engaging in outreach to the media and others to educate taxpayers.

The real IRS generally first contacts people about unpaid taxes by mail, not by phone. The IRS also will never ask for credit card numbers or bank information over the phone and won’t ask for payment using prepaid debit cards, money order or wire transfers.

Anyone who has received such an “IRS Impersonation Scam” call can report it at tigta.gov or by mail.

Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122, [email protected] or @ByStevenCook on Twitter.