Tax time a great time for scams

By Richard Kistnen, Esq.

Springtime is almost here, and with that comes the deadline for filing your tax returns.  With the prospect of receiving a tax refund, it is not surprising to observe scams popping up.  While you should generally be leery of demands for payment under normal circumstances, you should be exceptionally wary now because many scammers and debt collectors are betting that you have come into some money.
A number of persons have recently come to my office and indicated that they have received phone calls from persons demanding immediate payment of an ambiguous debt.  Often, the callers are very aggressive, as well as engage in verbal abuse.  They threaten arrest and jail time if immediate payment is not made.  In some instances, they threaten that police have been dispatched to your residence to make an arrest unless payment is made, at which time they will tell the police to turn around.  Understand that you cannot go to jail for failure to pay a credit card.  (Failure to pay domestic support obligations, such as maintenance or child support may have criminal implications, so this is not applicable in that context.)  Abusive tactics to collect a debt are violations of federal and state laws.  The best approach is to keep calm and collect as much information as possible about the caller.  With such information, you might be able to report the caller to appropriate authorities or possibly commence a lawsuit.
Another tactic that seems to be increasing is the receipt of phone calls from the “County Court.”  The courts are not in a position to demand payment for anything, and no court employee will call on a court’s behalf demanding a payment.  (In rare instances, scammers will be bold enough to mail letters alleging to be from a court.)  Again, you should keep calm and ask questions.  Ask about what case they are talking about, an index number, who the parties are, and where you can go to hand-deliver payment.  You will find that making inquiries will probably lead to the scammer to hang up the phone.
One final scam to be wary of is “zombie debt.”  Generally speaking, there are time limits for the collection and satisfaction of a debt.  Assuming a debt has not obtained judgment status, the time to collect a debt is six (6) years.  Sometimes, debt collectors will send correspondence or make calls to collect these zombie debts.  If you sign an agreement reviving the debt, or make payments on the debt, you may have given life to an otherwise non-enforceable debt.  Read such correspondence and listen to such communications carefully.  The accounts will often sound familiar, so you may be inclined to make a payment to get the collector to stop communicating.  Avoid making any payments.  Period.
If you find yourself receiving calls or communications about collecting debts, or potential scams, do not dismiss it.  Obtain as much information as possible.  Under no circumstance should you make a payment.  If you have questions about these debts, please call or visit the Law Office of Richard Kistnen, (718) 738-2324.