Recently, some phone scams have surfaced targeting seniors. In one the caller identifies themselves as an IRS agent. Remember—the IRS never calls, they communicate by mail. Never give out social security numbers or bank information even if the caller is using IRS ID numbers and official sounding titles. If you get a call like this, hang up and call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-8477. All calls are kept anonymous.
Another phone scam concerns phone calls “regarding your pension.” These are similar to the IRS phone scams. The Freedom of Information Law that stated that pension information is public has given scammers an opportunity to target seniors. Do not give out any information. The FBI has said to report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-382-4357.
A third scam phone call is one in which the caller identifies themselves as an employee of Microsoft and they might even call you by name. They say they detected something wrong with your computer. Again, hang up. Microsoft is not getting any messages from your computer and they are not calling you!