QUEENS — A 78-year-old Forest Hills woman was scammed out of about $5,000 by fraudsters who told her that she owed money to the IRS, police said.
The scammers called the victim, whose name has not been released, on Feb. 3, according to Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison, the 112th Precinct's commanding officer.
They introduced themselves as FBI agents calling her on behalf of the IRS, which, they said, referred her case to them. They told her she owed the IRS money.
“She panics and gets upset,” Harrison said at a recent community council meeting.
The scammers then gave her a call-back number starting with area code 203, police said.
The victim went to her bank and asked for a personal loan, Harrison said.
But when she explained the situation to the teller, she was told it was probably a scam and her request was denied.
The woman then called the fraudsters to tell them she was not able to get the money.
In response, they asked for her home address and said they were going to send a car service to her apartment.
The car then drove the victim from one place to another for nearly six hours, from 11:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., so that she could withdraw small amounts of money, until she was able to send about $5,000 via MoneyGram, a money transfer company, to the scammers, police said.
Adding insult to injury, Harrison said, the driver than charged her $400 for his service.
An officer from the 112th Precinct was later able to find the driver, who works for a local car service company. He returned $220, Harrison said.
Harrison said that various IRS scams have plagued the community in the past few years.
A number of Forest Hills residents also complained via social media in recent weeks, as tax season is in full swing, that they have received similar phone calls.
Harrison said her advice to residents when they receive such phone calls is to “slow down."
“You know if you owe money or not, you know if you paid the cable bill, you know if you paid your Con Ed, you know if you owe back taxes,” she said.
“Don’t let these people speak fast to you and get you excited, slow the pace of the conversation down," she added.
