Updated: 22/12/2016

Both the Gardai Siochana and The Revenue Commissioners have become aware of a small number of individuals who received phone calls from a man or woman purporting to work in Revenue, demanding the immediate payment of a tax bill over the phone.

The call starts with a call from an individual (usually based in a call centre in another country) who informs the victim that they have an outstanding tax bill, or owe the tax office money. They then proceed to intimidate the victim by telling them that if they don’t pay up (usually in the form of shopping vouchers,) they will be taken to court or arrested.

The UK & USA scams typically ask victims to visit a retailer and purchase a Gift Voucher for another company using cash only, and request the redemption code be provided to the scammer over the phone. 

Revenue and Gardai have urged users to disconnect any phone call in this manner, and to never provide personal information such as Name, Address, PPS Number, Email, Phone Number or Credit Card Details to anyone over the phone.

If you receive one of the telephone calls purporting to be from Revenue, and have doubts of whether the call is genuine. Revenue are recommending contacting your local revenue office r the collector general’s division on 1890 20 30 70. More information on Revenue’s Press Release – click here.

Radio presenter with Cork’s RedFM, Neil Prendeville calls these scammers live on air, you can listen here: http://www.redfm.ie/on-air/podcasts/neil-prendeville-on-redfm/923.mp3. *Caution* Explicit language.

Lots of these scams can be seen on YouTube if you search for IRS Scam or Gift Card Scam.

If you have fallen victim to one of these scams, we would recommend contacting Garda Confidential on 1800 666111, or the Revenue Commissioners on 1890203070.