Scammers using new scare tactic to steal money

As you file your taxes, beware: scammers are using a new scare tactic to rip you off.

It’s a scam that’s been around since October of 2013: a man with a heavy foreign accent calls, saying he’s with the U.S. Department of Treasury. He claims you messed up on filing taxes and there’s now a warrant out for your arrest.

Now, they’re taking it a step further.

Laura Adams got that exact call today — but then the man told her the police would be there in 30 minutes if she didn’t pay right then. And then he made her feel like the police were really coming.

“He said, ‘You’re going to be getting another call but it’s the police and they’re going to be locating you so they can come and arrest you,'” Adams said. “All of the sudden, I did get another call and I looked at my phone and it said it was ‘SOS, Emergency’.

He told me, ‘It won’t do you any good to answer it. You’re only getting another call so they can find you and arrest you.'”

She contacted a lawyer to find out if she should be worried, but he assured her it was just a scam.

“He was shocked, though, how they could’ve made the call say it was from that emergency contact,” Adams said.

So far, the scam has stolen more than $14 million from people around the country. It also tops the IRS’ list for the Dirty Dozen scams to watch out for during the 2015 tax season.

If you think you owe taxes or scammers have stolen your money, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.