OC Sheriff’s Office warning about IRS Scam

A new scam has surfaced in the Golden Corner of South Carolina and this one involves taxes, explains Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “Here in the last couple of days we have gotten reports of possible scams involving the IRS, where an individual calls and says they are from the IRS and you owe money in back taxes and basically if you don’t pay these then you are going to be arrested.” The IRS does not make phone calls, continues Watt. “Normally in most cases if not 100% of the time, if the IRS is going to contact you, they are going to do so through the mail.” Legitimate businesses do not threaten or demand payment through Green DOT cards, concludes Watt. “Legitimate businesses are not going to call and say, look you owe me this amount of money and if you don’t pay me, you’re going to jail. or you need to put money on a Green DOT card and send it in or give us the numbers, don’t do that because if you think it could be a scam, don’t hesitate to hang up and contact your tax preparer or the IRS yourself to check on that situation.” Never give out personal information over the phone unless you made the call and know for sure whom you are speaking to about your financial information.