Scams are unfortunately everywhere. With the first of the year here, be on the lookout for IRS and tax scams. The so called ‘bad actors’ will contact by phone, email, mail, or text messaging claiming you owe money and that you will go to prison if you don’t pay, anything to try and get some quick money or personal information. Monmouth Police Department Investigator Josh Kramer offers these steps to follow if you encounter a scam:
“The first thing, even before you call us, I would start letting any of your creditors know, let your bank institutions know what is going on so they can already reach out and put a freeze on your social security number. What that is going to do is that will basically stop them from opening accounts using your number. Once you have contacted all your creditors, your banks, I recommend then giving us a call and just letting us know. If it is a phone number that they called you off of, save the phone number. All that information can come in handy in a long term investigation. If it is emails, save the emails, print us off a copy and bring it in. Second thing I would say is the Attorney General website, there is a place you can report scams as well and I would get on their page and report what has happened to you.”
If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. If you receive anything that may seem suspicious, feel free to contact local law enforcement or your banker before responding to or clicking on any out of the ordinary claims.
