APD warns against tax scammers and fraud

ALBANY, Ga. – It may not be everyone’s favorite time of year, but we are at the start of tax season and that means scammers are out for your money.

CBS 44’s Brian Roche met with law enforcement to talk about how you can avoid being taken advantage of.

This is just one of many scam calls likely to go around over the course of the next couple of months as we start tax season.

That’s why we met with Albany Police Chief Michael Persley to talk about fraud during this time of year.

“You know, your phone is one thing. You can get letters in the mail just out of the blue and is like, someone’s offering you some money. The biggest thing is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Chief Michael Persley, Albany Police Dept.

Chief Persley spoke with us about some general rules of thumb about these scammers…

Such as how these scam calls will try to prey on people with filing taxes that seem too good to be true.

“Please, sir. Please, ma’am. Be careful when just jumping at the first thing or someone says they can get you a good bit of money back and you don’t have to show much information. Go to a reputable person who’s going to file your taxes for you,” said Chief Persley.

And… making sure to file with a reputable tax expert will help not just with saving money this tax season…

As Chief Persley tells us, it could keep you out of trouble with law enforcement.

“If you go about doing it in an illegal way, it not only can cause you problems right now, but potentially down the line. If you do run across those people who are running fraudulent services, please reach out to us. Let us know so that we can investigate those claims,” said Chief Persley.

And… as we get underway with tax season, Chief Persley is asking the public to take these scam threats seriously. As it could save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

If you feel you’ve been targeted by a tax scam, you can call the Albany Police Department (APD) at 229-431-2100.

Brian Roche reporting.

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