Ken Hines received a disturbing call at his home outside Seattle from a man who identified himself as an IRS agent.
"He was telling me I owed taxes," Hines told KIRO 7. He said the male caller was "very aggressive" and threatened to have Hines arrested because he hadn't paid all of his taxes.
“You’re going to solve this today by paying us, and we won’t arrest you,” Hines said the caller told him.
The caller provided a badge number and appeared knowledgeable about IRS terminology and codes.
Still, Hines was suspicious because he knew the IRS doesn't make cold calls.
“The real big indicator for me was I talked multiple times about these types of scams when I used to work for IRS Criminal Investigations," Hines said.
Hines is the former Special Agent in Charge of the IRS in Seattle.
As Director of Operations, he oversaw the criminal investigations of over 4,000 IRS agents nationwide.
Hines, who is now retired, immediately reported what happened — and the caller's number – to his former colleagues. “Oh, they laughed because I called them up, and I said, ‘Hey, are you guys on your way out to arrest me?’”
But, Hines said these phony IRS scams are not a laughing matter.
That is why he wants to warn others: the IRS will never call you demanding money or threatening arrest.
He should know.
“I never once in my 25 years called anybody and said we’re coming to arrest them,” Hines said.
“I’m glad they called me and not somebody that would be victimized.”
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