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Wisconsin police officer returns 'IRS' scammer's call in viral video

By Ben Hooper
A Wisconsin police officer returns a call from an "IRS" phone scammer. Screenshot: Eau Claire Police Department/Facebook
A Wisconsin police officer returns a call from an "IRS" phone scammer. Screenshot: Eau Claire Police Department/Facebook

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March 24 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin police officer is being lauded online after a viral video showed him returning a call from an "IRS" scammer -- and the call quickly turns awkward.

Officer Kyle Roder appeared in a video posted to Facebook by the Eau Claire Police Department returning a voicemail from a man who claimed to work for the IRS and said Roder would "be arrested" if he didn't return the call promptly.

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"Hello, is this the IRS? It said to call this number, you said I had committed a fraud or something?" Roder asks at the beginning of his return call.

The scammer asks for a case number, and when Roder responds that he doesn't have one, demands the officer's address.

"But you said you're going to issue a warrant for me and come to my house," Roder said. "If you don't have my address, how are you going to do that?"

Roder asks how long he has until he is arrested, and the man replies, "until our working hours are over."

The man gives Roder a name and "badge number," but only moments later gives a different last name.

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Roder cautions viewers not to attempt to replicate the stunt, since he's "a trained professional -- do not try this at home."

Detective Don Henning with the Eau Claire County Sheriff's Office confirmed his department does not execute arrest warrants for the IRS.

"The sheriff's office does not receive information from the IRS or warrants for citizens based on phone calls like this," Henning says in an appearance at the end of the video. "This is truly a scam."

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