EVANSVILLE — The published public phone number of (812) 867-2079 for the Indiana State Police in Evansville is reported to have been spoofed over the last 24 hours. A person notified the Indiana State Police this morning that he received a phone call from (812) 867-2079 and the person calling identified himself as a police officer. The caller further explained that he owed money to the Internal Revenue Service and that if he didn’t pay he would be arrested. This is a common scam and Indiana State Police are not calling residents about their unpaid taxes.

As defined by TechTarget, call ID spoofing is a service that allows a caller to masquerade as someone else by falsifying the number that appears on the recipient’s caller ID display. Just as email spoofing can make it appear that a message came from any email address the sender chooses. Caller ID spoofing can make a call appear to come from any phone number the caller wishes.

The Indiana State Police would like to remind everyone that the IRS scam is still very active and to following these simple safety tips from the IRS.

The Internal Revenue Service will never:

• Call to demand immediate payment, nor will they call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, call the IRS at (800) 829-1040.

If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484.