VIDEO: Scam Artists Are On The Prowl

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)-Tax season is here, but accountants aren’t the only ones working overtime. It’s also a busy time for scam artists.

Scams are being reported across north Mississippi and west Alabama.

Several Columbus residents have received bogus calls phone calls from people trying to swindle them.

These scam artists usually prey on the elderly by trying to scare or threaten them, hoping their scam is clever enough to trick people.

“Basically what’s happening is people are posing as IRS agents, and calling people saying, hey, you owe taxes and if you don’t pay your taxes we are going to send the police to come and get you and that’s not true,” said Columbus Police Department assistant police chief Fred Shelton.

Shelton is urging residents to beware of suspicious calls, especially during tax time.

A Columbus resident became a scam victim earlier this month.

“A person called her from a, more Like an international number, and said hey, I’m with the IRS, I’m agent John Doe,”Shelton described. “You owe the IRS from back taxes from 2010 and if you don’t pay that $3500 we are going to send the police to come and pick you up.”

Shelton said the elderly woman panicked, and didn’t call police.

“The victim went to several stores and try to get money, and the stores actually told her, hey ma’am, this is a fraud, this is a scam don’t do it, but out of fear of being arrested she went and did send the people some money,” he said.

Then there’s another scam involving utility companies.

“This week we’ve had a rash of calls from our customers who are asking about the validity of calls that they are getting supposedly from our personnel,” said Mike Bernson, comptroller for the Columbus Police Department.

Bernson explains how the scam works.

“This is John at Columbus light and water,” he explained. “We see that your bill is past due and if you don’t pay within 45 minutes we are going to have to disconnect you. So just give us your credit card number now and we can resolve this issue and you won’t be disconnected.”

Bernson said CLW has had issues with third party companies as well, such as DOXO.

They are legit and will pay the customer’s bill, however, it just takes seven to ten days to process the payment, which can cause problems.

“Until we get it we can give the customer a credit, so it’s causing a lot of penalties being charged,” said Bernson.

If you receive a phone call you believe is a scam, you’re encouraged to hang up and call your local police department right away.

Categories: Local News

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