[phone]. I just received a call from this number

[CatWoman]

After speaking with them, I did a google search and apparently they don't deviate from the script. BTW -- I live in Georgia:


IRS warns of phone scam

TAMPA (FOX 13) -

A warning from federal investigators: if the phone rings and somebody on the other end claims to be from the IRS, you should ignore the call and phone authorities.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which oversees the IRS, says the phone scam is the largest ever and has cost Americans $4 million.

Florida is one of the top targets for scammers, as James "Bear" Wilson found out first hand. When the Tampa man listened to the message left on his answering machine, here's what the caller said:

“Hi, this is John Smith calling from the crime investigation unit of the IRS. The IRS has issued a warrant for your arrest.”

"It scared me at first, a warrant for my arrest," said Wilson.

Federal investigators say thousands of people in Florida have also received the alarming calls, and nationwide the number is more than 60,000.

"It's the largest scam of this type that I'm aware of in my 23 years of law enforcement," said Tim Camus, Deputy Inspector General at TIGTA.

Camus says the scammers are rude and forceful, and will threaten people with jail or large fines.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/26206940/2014/08/05/phone-scam

Further research verified these guys are working out of Pakistan and/or India.

I went here and filed a complaint: http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

[pinto]

1. Public Service Message - Warrants are served in person, not by a phone call. Yeah, ignore and report

[sharp_stick]

2. I got one of these awhile ago

I wound up playing with the lady for awhile but I'd heard of the scam earlier.

She started off telling me that she was so and so from the IRS and her badge number was some 6 digit number. I asked her to repeat the number and she did it correctly, reading off a script of course, so I asked why her ID didn't start with a letter like "all IRS investigating agents have" ( I have no idea if they even have badges BTW). She paused for awhile kind of surprised and then went on with the spiel in badly accented English.

She said I owed the IRS some specific number like $6347.54 and that if I paid 10% she could turn back the police cars that were on their way to pick me up. I immediately apologized for screwing up as I only intended to rip off the tax guys for $2965.22 so I must have made a math error.

I told her I had no intention of paying it, she said the police would be at my house within the hour. I thanked her for telling me so I could get my toothbrush and stuff and meet them out front. She paused for a second then I got bored so I heaped a bunch of profane abuse on her and her family and hung up.

[CatWoman]

4. they are on a roll this week:

http://www.reportthecall.com/202-241-2642

[davidpdx]

17. Damn too bad you couldn't have record it

Yes, there is the legal issue. Then again, the person is running a scam so I'm not so sure you recording the call would be that big of a deal.

I would have told her that you have 3 large dogs in your backyard that you forgot to feed today and you were going to let them out.

Even better I would have started sobbing and tell her that your cat got ran over by a car and that it needed surgery and asked her if you could borrow a few hundred dollars until payday.

[djean111]

3. I never answer a phone call from a number I don't recognise.

I let it go to message (almost always no message) and then google the number to see what scam it is.

However, the other night, the phone rang, and the user id said it was ME and my phone number. Googled that. Evidently the scammers can now spoof the user id and phone number that appears.

[hunter]

5. I think I'll play the part of someone who is already in prison for tax evasion.

You see, I'm such a nice guy I have phone privileges here in Club Fed.

It's a white-collar, minimum-security resort, and I love it.

Free food, television, a gym. It's great! I even have a pet rat.

[canoeist52]

6. "Special place in hell" and all that.

I had to talk a friend down after she received this same call yesterday. She has anxiety issues and couldn't stop shaking.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. yeah i had to block several numbers for this. they are rude and forceful

but i always enjoy saying an obligatory fuck you to these people before blocking

[Egnever]

8. Who falls for this crap?

The only way I can see this working is if you had massive fraud in your taxes. Otherwise who is going to believe the IRS is coming to arrest them?

Arrest them for what?

And if they did have a lot of fraud on their taxes enough to make this claim plausible well, you mess with the bull sometimes you get the horns.

[A Little Weird]

10. The elderly

My grandmother would get so upset by these calls and I have heard other people talk about how their parents or grandparents get taken by these scams. It pisses me off that this sort of thing never seems to get shut down.

[CatWoman]

13. I would think immigrants as well

as one of the threats aimed at me was "deportation"............

[A Little Weird]

16. Yes of course

I didn't mean to exclude immigrants - when I read your OP it just reminded me of my Grandma's ordeal and it made me mad all over again.

[snooper2]

9. The owning carrier for that number is YMAX Communications Corp (magic jack losers)

The LRN is 202-241-0000

out of DC,

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. I received such a call a few months ago, but

as a self-employed person who has already had a couple of returns questioned by the IRS, I know from personal experience that the IRS does not start by arresting you.

They send a registered letter saying that they disagree with something in your return and telling you to either pay up or come in to talk to them about why you think your return is OK or to discuss payment terms.

You might end up being arrested for tax evasion if you're a real cheat, but even then, it won't be out of the blue without warning.

[magical thyme]

12. How considerate of the IRS to phone people in advance of arresting them

It makes running away so much easier!

[Erose999]

14. I got a robocall the other day from an Obama impersonator trying to direct me to a website about

investment "advice". The voice, which was never explicitly identified as Obama, kept using nebulous phrases like "as your leader, I can offer you inside knowledge".

They really ought to regulate the shit out of telemarketing, if not ban it completely.

[CatWoman]

15. these idiots kept calling me "Mr. Briggs"

I'm like, if you know anything about me, you'd know I'm a woman.

They give themselves away.

[kelliekat44]

18. That's a D.C. area code. nt