LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport resident fell victim this week to an aggressive scam that is circulating around Lake County and the rest of the country.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said a woman contacted his agency on Wednesday to report that she had been scammed for $4,000 the previous day by a suspect who contacted her via telephone claiming to be a federal Internal Revenue Service agent.

The individual masquerading as the IRS agent threatened criminal charges if the victim did not pay the money immediately, Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said the scammer then contacted the victim the next day advising that the tax bill was actually more than the original $4,000 and asked for additional money.

The victim then contacted the Lakeport Police Department and advised them of the calls, Rasmussen said.

A Lakeport Police officer, posing as a family member of the victim and using her cellular telephone, was able to talk to the suspect in an effort to gain information for investigation but was ultimately not able to develop any usable leads, according to Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said the aggressive scam using the IRS name has been occurring in the community over the past six months.

“Unfortunately, we do not expect the scam to end even though the tax filing date was yesterday,” Rasmussen said.

Late Thursday afternoon, Rasmussen said his department received another report from a Lakeport resident who was contacted earlier in the day by persons claiming to be IRS agents. In that case, no money was lost.

The most important information to be aware of is that the IRS does not contact persons by telephone or email regarding tax issues but rather only uses official United States Mail, Rasmussen said.

He said the scammers are using untraceable ghost telephone numbers and email addresses set up to look like official IRS contacts. 

Scam characteristics include:

• Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.

• Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.

• Scammers spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.

• Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.

• Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.

• After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.

If you receive one of these calls, do not believe any of it as the IRS does not conduct business this way. 

More information can be found on IRS Web sites at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Warns-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam and http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing .