Bill Houston missed a call on his landline from an Auckland number yesterday morning.
The caller did not leave a message, so he called the number back.
A man with an Indian accent answered the phone and said he worked for the Inland Revenue Department.
He claimed a tax return Mr Houston and his wife Lynette filed revealed fraudulent behaviour between 2010 and 2014.
The man threatened legal action and told Mr Houston to contact a lawyer.
Providing credit card details to pay some of the debt would stop a police visit to his Maori Hill home, the address of which was known to the caller.
"It worried me. It had me concerned because we've never tried to avoid tax.''
Mr Houston told the man he would call him back and hung up.
He contacted his wife, who was visiting their daughter. She immediately suspected a scam.
When he contacted the police, he was told 80% of all calls to police yesterday morning were about the scam.
Mr Houston wanted to warn people about it.
"It could scare a lot of people. It certainly scared me.''
When the Otago Daily Times called the Auckland number yesterday, an Indian man answered, calling himself "officer Roger Clark from the legal department of Inland Revenue'' from Wellington. In the background, scores of people could be heard talking on phones.
When asked if he was part of a scam, the man became outraged because he had been called, not the other way around, so why should he have to satisfy me he was not part of a scam.
"I'm not going to convince you of anything. If you don't believe me you can just hang up.''
After signing off - "thanks for your call'' - he hung up.
Inland Revenue customer services group manager Eleanor Young said the department was notified of the scam calls last Tuesday.
The department knew of several hundred people across New Zealand being targeted.
"These callers are quite clever and are particularly aggressive, so people need to be wary of being caught out,'' Ms Young said.
Calls had been made to both landline and mobile numbers, and messages had been left on customers' voicemails about impending criminal action for tax fraud.
If anyone received such a call, they should hang up and email phishing@ird.govt.nz.
Inland Revenue would never ask for credit card details or bank account numbers over the phone to process a monetary payment, Ms Young said.
What to do
If you receive a call from someone demanding a payment.
•Seek validation of the caller's identity. Always ask for a full name and the company or agency details.
•Validate the phone number of the caller and ask them to call from a landline if they are using a mobile phone.
•Ignore calls from unknown mobile numbers.
•Don't share your personal details until you are convinced the caller is legitimate.
•If you are threatened, hang up. A government agency, police or crown entity will not make threats. Look after personal details as you would your wallet and other possessions.
•Be aware of common scams. Banks, Immigration New Zealand or Inland Revenue Department never email, call or text customers asking for money to be sent using money transfer services. If you receive such a request, it's a scam.
•Don't trust anyone who calls asking for financial-related information. Hang up, call them on the agency's published contact 0800 number, or arrange a meeting at the relevant agency branch.
SOURCE: POLICE
