Tax scam targeting senior citizens in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) -- An 88-year-old woman is speaking out about an IRS phone scam.

She says someone, claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service, called her to inquire about settling her tax payment.

This is one of several tax scams that's been going around for some time now. It has surfaced again in Delaware - this time targeting senior citizens.

Pat, who doesn't want to be identified, says she almost fell for it.

It was a Saturday afternoon when she found a strange message on her answering machine. The caller identified herself as Officer Judy Smith with the Internal Revenue Service.

The recording said, "Don't disregard this message, and do return the call before we take any action against you."

Pat was immediately suspicious.

She says, "Well first of all, what government offices or state offices work on Saturday?"

Instead of returning the call, Pat called her daughter who correctly warned her that it was a scam.

We tried calling the number left on the message, but whoever called Pat was using an untraceable internet phone service and has since stopped using that number.

The IRS is once again issuing warnings about these phone scams.

In a message on its website, the IRS says, "Don't believe it. We have formal processes in place for people with tax issues, and angry harassing calls like these are not how we do business."

Victims have lost thousands of dollars sending payments to the phony IRS agents.

Pat is just glad she didn't all for it.

Pat says, "Nowadays, they'll try on anybody to get the money out of them. It's a shame. They should be ashamed of themselves."

Once again, if the IRS has an issue with your taxes, they will not call you out of the blue. They first send out an official notice before anyone tries to contact a taxpayer.