Sheriff says be alert for phone scams during tax season; A St. Bernard resident reported two men called pretending to work for the Internal Revenue Service and threatened to arrest her over a tax debt

With income tax season at hand, Sheriff James Pohlmann said St. Bernard Parish residents should be alert for phone scams involving attempts to make them pay money over non-existent tax debts.

An Arabi woman reported Jan. 21 that that two men called pretending to work for the Internal Revenue Service and threatened to arrest her over a tax debt.

They wanted her to meet them with the money they said she owed but the woman filed a report with the Sheriff’s Office over the incident, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

“Please don’t be intimidated into giving someone money for a debt you don’t owe,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “If you really owed the government taxes the process wouldn’t be handled in this manner.’’

Nearly every year as the April 15 deadline approaches for federal income tax returns to be filed someone reports an attempted scam on them, the sheriff said.