Incident Date: 12/09/2015

Case Number: 5-15235

Posted by: Media Relations

At 2 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2015, deputies responded to a victim’s residence in Porterville regarding a phone scam. The female victim said she was called by a male who told her he worked for the IRS. He told her she owed back taxes to the IRS in the amount of $2,000 and if it wasn’t paid, a warrant would be issued for her arrest.

The victim sensed it was a scam, so she hung up the phone.

A couple hours later, she received another phone call, this time from a local number. The male caller identified himself as a police officer and told her he had a warrant for her arrest due to back taxes owed. 

The victim told him she thought the earlier call was a scam. This impersonator told her to call the IRS back and pay the bill.

The victim called the first suspect back and he advised her to get four pre-paid Visa cards and put a total of $2,000 on the cards. She complied and put a total of $2,000 on four separate Visa cards. The victim then gave the information to the suspect who said he worked for the IRS.

After the transaction was complete, the victim contacted TCSO.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Sgt. Lance Heiden or Detective Jerry Hunziger at the the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 733-6218 or send an anonymous message in a text or voice mail to (559) 725-4194 or an email to TCSO@tipnow.com.