Phone scams on the rise over the holidays

Reno Police also want to encourage anyone has elderly friends or family to discuss these phone scams with them and to advise them to not send any money to these scammers.

The callers use various scare tactics to deceive individuals into providing personal information, or threatening arrest.

People in Sheboygan have been receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be the IRS demanding money, according to police. The caller told them to be home during a specific time with proper identification, and that they could take the check to the bank right away, Richard Seymour said.

For more information on identifying and preventing frauds and scams, visit consumerfinance.gov/olderAmericans and order or download a copy of the booklet “Money Smart For Older Adults: Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation”.

The IRS doesn’t call or threaten arrest in tax cases, according to police.

Hoosiers should be suspect of any person calling that purports to be with the IRS and is trying to coerce payment of delinquent taxes over the phone. The IRS would not cold call him, he said. Hang up and contact TIGTA at 800-366-4484 or www.treasury.gov/tigta, using their Report a Scam form, or the Federal Trade Commission at www.FTC.gov using the FTC Complaint Assistant form.

Hamilton police warn that scammers are pretending to be from Publishers Clearing House to divest people from their money.

If you owe money, think you owe money or have any doubt about a IRS call, call them at 1-800-829-1040. Anyone who has been a victim of these phones scams in Reno is asked to file a report with Reno Police.