Man falls victim to IRS scam

The Elyria Police Department is investigating a recent scam where a man was told he owed money to the IRS.

The victim, a 56-year-old Elyria man, reported to police at 4 p.m. Dec. 4 that a man, using the phone number 202-844-7809, called him saying he was with the IRS and the victim owed money, according to Elyria police Capt. Chris Costantino.

Costantino said the victim described the caller’s voice as an overseas accent. He also identified himself as James Brown.

The caller told the victim to purchase $500 or more in Google Play gift cards from local stores and not to hang up the phone during the conversation or police would arrive to arrest him, Costantino said.

The victim followed the instructions and went to four local stores purchasing 13 $500 gift cards, totaling $6,500, all while remaining on the line. After purchasing the cards, he read the numbers on the gift cards to the caller and later decided to report the incident to the police.

“I want to encourage people the IRS nor police will call and ask you to purchase gift cards,” Costantino said. “Always err on the side of caution. If you know you don’t owe money, hang up the phone. Call the police if you are in doubt; don’t fall prey to these scams.”

Costantino said it’s difficult to trace scammers in these situations.

“These people prey on innocent victims and are very callous. Please be cautious and don’t fall victim to what these people are trying to do.”