Fake SWAT Team scammer calls real SWAT Team member
A scammer posing as a SWAT Team member inadvertently picked the wrong person to call -- a SWAT Team member.
Fake SWAT Team scammer calls real SWAT Team member A scammer posing as a SWAT Team member inadvertently picked the wrong person to call -- a SWAT Team member. Check out this story on thetowntalk.com: https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2015/07/16/fake-swat-team-scammer-calls-real-swat-team-member/30257515/
Richard Sharkey, rsharkey@thetowntalk.com, (318) 487-6490 Published 3:59 p.m. CT July 16, 2015
Beware of scammers trying to pass themselves off as IRS agents or members of the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office SWAT Team, officials advise.(Photo: Courtesy)
A scammer trying to pass himself off as representing the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office SWAT Team inadvertently called a deputy who is member of the SWAT Team to try to trick him into sending money, authorities said.
The deputy received a phone call on a cell phone and was told there was a warrant for unpaid taxes, according to a news release from Sheriff William Earl Hilton.
Before the deputy identified himself to the scammer, the deputy told the caller that he (the caller) did not have law enforcement or arrest powers for unpaid taxes.
The scammer then put the deputy on hold, called his phone again and the caller ID for the scammer came up as RPSO SWAT, the news release said. The scammer went on to say how the SWAT Team does have arrest power and that if he did not pay, he (the deputy) would be arrested.
"When the deputy identified himself, the scammer immediately hung up and now won't answer the phone," the release said.
Hilton said some scammers in this area also try to pass themselves off as IRS agents. He said the IRS would never call to demand immediate payment, nor would the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
The IRS, he said, also would never demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount; would never require you to use a specific payment method; would never ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; and would never threaten to have local police arrest you for not paying.
For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov and type "scam" in the search box.
You should never give any personal information over the phone unless you have initiated the contact, Hilton advises.
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