Palos Park, IL – As tax season approaches, the Palos Park Police Department warns residents of increasing email, text, and phone call scams.
The fraudulent schemes often impersonate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to extract personal and financial details from victims.
According to the Palos Park Police, scammers may claim affiliation with the IRS and falsely inform targets about federal tax refunds, directing them to counterfeit websites resembling IRS portals. These sites are designed to harvest sensitive information, including personal and financial data. The IRS, however, does not initiate unsolicited emails or request such detailed personal data, nor does it ask for PINs, passwords, or other access information for financial accounts.
Residents are advised to stay vigilant year-round, as scammers operate continuously, using various tactics to appear legitimate. The Police Department recommends verifying the authenticity of any agency before sharing sensitive information, avoiding clicking on suspicious links, and being cautious of social media interactions.
For more information on phishing and identity theft prevention, visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov and the Federal Trade Commission websites at www.consumer.gov/idtheft and www.OnGuardOnline.gov. To report fraud, contact the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov.
