A 44-year-old Linden was the victim of an IRS scam that cost her over $5,000, police said this morning.
On October 6, shortly after 6 p.m., a 44-year-old Linden woman reported to police that she was scammed out of $5,100 by phony IRS agents who called her on her cell phone.
The woman stated that the calls started in the early morning hours of October 5th demanding that she pay the $5,100 owed in back taxes.
The victim initially believed the calls were a hoax, however when calls persisted and the callers had information such as her full name, home address, and cell phone number, she then believed the calls had merit.
The callers, who identified themselves as IRS attorneys and law enforcement agents, told her that an arrest warrant had been issued for her, and she needed to immediately wire money transfers to them to “clear up” the warrant. They also threatened her with deportation.
The victim was instructed to purchase a total of six money orders totaling the amount owed and sent them to different individuals in Illinois.
The scammers knew that money orders under $1,000 will raise very little suspicion by sales clerks.
She stated that the callers all spoke English, but some had an Asian accent.
The victim subsequently realized that this was a scam and notified police.
She also called back the phone numbers of the alleged IRS agents and discovered all of the phone numbers were no longer active.