PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service warned individuals and businesses to be vigilant about an evolving scam being perpetrated in the state.
Scammers have been demanding payment for an alleged debt to the R.I. Division of Taxation or the IRS and typically threaten the taxpayer with arrest and imprisonment.
“Neither the IRS nor the R.I. Division of Taxation treats taxpayers in this fashion,” R.I. Tax Administrator Neena Savage said in a statement. “We urge individuals and businesses to be on guard against such scams.”
The Division of Taxation makes first contact by mail, Savage reminded, and said the division would never demand immediate payment and/or threaten to have a taxpayer jailed if he or she failed to pay.
Recently the scam has changed, whereas scammers are using computers to make their telephone numbers mimic IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers. The criminals then insist to the taxpayer they are harassing to check the number online to verify the legitimacy of the call. The scammers then wait and call back and resume their demand for money.
Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin has asked anyone who experiences such a scam to report it to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit by calling (401) 274-4400 or by emailing consumer@riag.ri.gov.
