A new phone scam is hitting Wichita residents.
Several people have contacted the police department, saying they received phone calls from someone pretending to be with the IRS. The most common call is where the person is trying to get a victim to give out account information and settle owed taxes.
“There are different variations to the scam that we see, one of which is somebody posing as a police officer claiming outstanding warrant fees, IRS agents,” said Wichita Police Lt. Joe Schroeder.
“He threatens to issue tax warrants, threatens to come out and arrest people if they don’t want to set up the payments. This is a scam.”
Schroeder said the calls appear to be at random, and the department isn’t sure if they are originating from Wichita or an outside area. Thus far, nobody has fallen victim to the scam.
“Anybody who calls any people in Wichita, claiming to be an agent of some sort of government agency, wanting to set up payment plan with them for whatever owed taxes they may not have…. they need to be leery of it,” he said. “Again, it’s just like on the internet. If you don’t know who you’re dealing with, don’t be providing information to them.”
Have you heard of this scam? Has someone called your home? Reporter Annette Lawless is speaking with potential victims. You can call her at (316) 755-8824.