Scammers are attempting to take advantage of unsuspecting citizens by claiming to be with the U.S. Treasury Department – and saying that they have a claim against you for Tax Fraud  with the most recent target being none other than WEIS Radio Owner and General Manager Jerry Baker – who received the following message on his cell phone.

The people trying to run the scam are persistent, but that’s about it – they’re lazy, have zero imagination and are probably unpopular even at family reunions.

We based those first two observations on the fact they didn’t even attempt to change up the scam or update it in any way – they are still trying to scare people into sending them money or give them sensitive information such as credit debit card numbers, account numbers and so on by telling the person they are calling from U.S. Treasury Department.

Fact #1 – you’re not going to be arrested, and that’s because Fact #2 – they’re NOT with the United States Government.

The Treasury doesn’t contact you by phone; IF you DO actually have an issue with previous tax returns you’ll be notified by U.S. Mail –and although they may seem intimidating – a real Treasury Department representative won’t threaten you with arrest, it simply doesn’t work that way.

We wrote down one of the numbers being used in the scam – 805-852-0495 – and when we dialed it, it came up as being out-of-order or disconnected.

It’s NOT the US Government.  Period.

So, if you receive one of these calls, simply hang up and forget about it.

And, by the way, the third observation we made about scammers being horrible people that no one likes – we just threw that in for good measure ’cause they deserve it.