A national telephone scam has the attention of authorities in San Diego.
The San Diego Police Department said callers claiming to be Internal Revenue Service officials tricked at least eight local people into sending them money.
Raphael Tulino, an IRS Spokesman, said tax collectors would contact people through the mail.
"They're threatening, they're insulting. They demand that you go out and pay taxes a certain way. Pre-paid debit card, wire transfer are the two most common," Tulino said.
The scammers are bullies, according to Tulino.
"And then they threaten you with arrest or deportation, such as from the sheriff's department or local police and then they call back as local police or sheriff's and they further the scam to the person they're calling, who generally will be a little bit shaken at that point," Tulino said.
According to Tulino, the IRS would never call asking for money. Scammers have collected more than $1 million from the thousands of victims who have been duped around the nation.
