Watch Out for Tax-Related Phone Scams Hitting Kennewick, Mid-Columbia

It's become almost an annual event, phone-related tax scams from people claiming to be from the IRS.

Mike Blatman, the Crime Prevention Specialist for the Kennewick Police Department, reminds citizens to remember one big point if anyone ever calls your house or cellphone, claiming to be from the IRS-or any other tax-related government agency.

Blatman, and other financial tax professionals and accountants, say nobody from the IRS will ever call you about any potential tax issues. They always communicate via mail.

Blatman says sometimes numbers on caller ID appear to be legit, because they're spoofed. Scammers can use cellphone apps to clone or disguise the number they're calling from.  It might come up as 'Internal Revenue Service' on the caller ID, but it's not.

Never give out any personal information of any kind, and hang up. If you can, or feel comfortable doing this, try to get as much information as you can from the caller, without giving away any of yours.

And, make sure you report as much information as you can to your local police department. Blatman says these scammers usually ask for payment from the victim via a pre-paid debit card or Green Dot card. Anyone asking for such money is always a scammer.

We actually had somebody call us one time with a similar kind of scam. Fortunately, we were able to use our compressed air horn to give them a jolt. I told them to hold on for a moment because I had to retrieve something. I told them to listen carefully, then put the air horn up to the phone and gave them a blast they'll never forget.  Although it was a few years ago, am hoping they still suffer from hearing loss.