An IRS scam targeting the elderly was detected and squashed for one victim on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Harrison County Sheriff Matt Haley reports that an elderly female fell victim to the scam and was ordered to pay $25,000 to a bad actor allegedly posing as an official with the federal government.
The female visited Premier Postal in Long Beach where she attempted to mail the money in a manner where it was not packaged correctly. While conversing with the elderly female, the postal service’s clerk noticed a male with a strong foreign accent on the phone directing the woman about the shipping procedures.
The clerk continued to assist the elderly female to properly secure the package when she discovered the package contained a large sum of currency. At that point, the clerk grew more concerned as the elderly female could not provide information as to the recipient or the high cost of the requested expedited shipping. The victim subsequently exited the business, leaving the package to be shipped.
Through recent bulletins published by local law enforcement making the public aware of various scams demanding payments for fraudulent legal and tax obligations, the clerk believed the elderly woman was a victim of one of these scams. The clerk subsequently contacted authorities to investigate the matter.
Investigators were able to locate the elderly female at her residence where they spoke to her and another relative. Law enforcement learned that the victim believed she was paying IRS for outstanding taxes to avoid being held criminally liable. Authorities concluded that the victim was part of a major scam targeting vulnerable and elderly individuals where an immediate cash payment is demanded to avoid arrest and additional penalties.
No stranger to these scams, the unidentified victim had reportedly already paid more than $30,000 to cover costs she did not owe. This time around, however, officials were able to give the elderly woman her money back and warned her not to fall victim to these scams again.
The Department of Homeland Security assisted in the investigation, and a joint investigation is currently active and ongoing. Harrison County officials remind the public to speak up if they think someone is being targeted by scammers.