Police Warn Residents of Several Phone Scams

– Allison Goldsberry

Medford Police released an alert on Friday afternoon warning residents of several phone scams.

According to police, these scams have reportedly taken place in Medford and surrounding communities.

In one scam, people pose as IRS agents and try to scare victims into transferring money by telling them they owe money or risk being audited or even arrested. Police say the IRS doesn’t “place these types of calls requesting money in this manner” and that the agency will never ask for a Social Security number over the phone. Police suggest hanging up and calling the IRS to verify the call when in doubt.

In another scam, someone posing as a family member calls victims and pretends to have been in an accident or jail. The scammer asks for money while also fishing for details to make the story more believable. Police recommend not giving up any identifying information and to ask the scammer for the names of other family members, which will likely result in the caller hanging up.

Police say they have received multiple reports of scams this week and they think many have not been reported. Questions and reports of phone scams can be directed to the Medford Police at 781-395-1212.