CENTRALIA — The Centralia Police Department took a report Friday of a phone scam in which the caller claimed to be from the Internal Revenue Service.

The complainant noticed the number that appeared on their Caller ID was one of the non-emergency numbers, 618-532-7602, from the Centralia Police Department and notified police.

According to Centralia Police Chief Brian Atchison, the practice of making the wrong number appear on caller ID is commonly referred to as “spoofing” and unfortunately this technology is readily available on the internet.

Atchison says no one from the IRS or the Centralia Police Department will call you and ask for any personal identifiers.

He reminds people that the IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information.

In addition, IRS does not threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement action. Recognizing these telltale signs of a phishing or tax scam could save you from becoming a victim.