By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.– Police are warning residents to beware of scams again after a township woman was bilked out of $11,500 last week.

“IRS scams are really heavy right now,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander. “If you receive a phone call telling you that you owe back taxes, it’s a scam. The IRS is not going to call you. Don’t give out your personal information.”

The woman who fell victim to the scam last week was called by a foreign-sounding person who claimed to be with the Internal Revenue Service and threatened to issue a warrant for her father’s arrest for tax evasion if she didn’t comply with instructions. She was told to purchase iTunes cards, which she did from various pharmacies, and then gave the card information off the cards over the phone to the unknown suspects.

She became suspicious after it was too late and went to the substation, where Glover heard the scam firsthand, but was powerless to track the suspect, who is likely in another country.

“I stood here while they (the suspects) called her over and over,” said Glover. “The IRS will not give you directives over and over. They will not keep calling and bothering you. They will not ask you to jump through all these hoops.”

Criminals, he said, often gain their victims’ personal information after they provide it through junk mail solicitations. Do not fill out junk mail forms. Glover recalls an incident from several years ago when an elderly township woman lost $60,000 to scam artists after she filled out a Publisher’s Clearinghouse form. She was told she had won a large cash prize, but because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, all of her information was lost. They said they had recovered the data, but she would now need to pay taxes and fees to get her prize. She fell for it and wired the suspects the money through Western Union.

Criminals purchase information from organizations like PCH and then make cold calls looking for easy targets who will believe threats or promises and Glover said they are not just targeting the elderly.

He reminds residents to never wire money, nor to purchase greendot or iTunes cards, nor any other type of card to give to someone you have never met that is calling. The IRS will send certified mail. If you have doubts about the validity of any call or email, call the substation first at 248-627-4911.