Area Man Conned Out Of $67,000

A 59-year-old Traverse City man paid con artists $67,000 over 22 days before the man suspected foul play and went to police.

The fraudsters called the man pretending to be from the IRS and threatened to put him in jail if he didn’t pay back taxes. The man paid the scammers thousands of dollars in several installments over three weeks through Federal Express cashier’s checks and wire transfers, says Capt. Jim Bussell.

Traverse City Police took the report April 20. Bussell says that IRS agents or representatives from other government agencies don’t call people to demand payment over the phone.