Her phone rang just after 9:30 in the morning.
The man on the other end told the Alpharetta woman he was John White, an IRS agent who was going to arrest her if she didn’t give him $1,200, according to a Feb. 10 incident report. She was led to believe that she owed money to the tax agency.
So the 66-year-old bought $1,200 worth of Apple gift cards from Walgreens and sent him photos of the them, per the voice on the phone’s request.
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The woman became suspicious, but too late.
Hours later she told police she felt scammed, had no money left in her account and would like to press charges if the man is caught.
But police say unless more information becomes available, they can’t begin an investigation.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the agency as a lure.
Taxpayers should remember their first contact with the IRS will generally be by mail if you owe any taxes, and not be a call demanding immediate payment using a specific payment method like prepaid debit cards, gift cards or wire transfers.
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