2022411046

One of our workers received a call from this number, 202-241-1046, and got very alarmed. The owner of our company was there when the call was received and was able to handle it and make our worker understand that this is just a scam. Since that point this number has been passed out to numerous people which have called "Patrick Decosta" and left him numerous messages. after a period of 1 week and numerous calls to this guy he is BEGGING us to stop calling his number and leaving him messages. Point being this dude is a total dick and now we have the upper hand. Stop worrying about this call and just make it a total fun deal for yourself and all of your buddies and do as he ask and call him back and leave plenty of messages for him. The funniest one so far was when someone from our company offered him a job sucking farts out of old movie theater seats...... hope this will at least put a smile on your face and giver you a different approach to this kind of crap. have a great day.

I received a voicemail today, as others have already mentioned, from a man with a heavy middle eastern accent. He claims he is from the IRS and that I am being monitored, that this is very serious and that I must return the call today. I immediately googled the phone number, which led me to this page.

I do believe this is an IRS Scam. The call came in from D.C., USA. I have never heard of the IRS making phone calls. They work through correspondence.

Looks like this has been going on for several months now, unfortunately.

Please do not fall for this scam. REPORT IT!

This is known as the IRS Phone Scam. I wrote about this, including my experience here.
http://www.demartek.com/Demartek_Comments_on_ ... 2014-08-05.html

I also have links to the IRS and US Treasury sites confirming that this is a scam.

A call came in on October 2nd saying he was Patrick Decosta from the irs and threatening our house is under surveillance and he had better get a call the same day.  My husband yesterday had me listen to the message that I was unaware of and I told him that was a scam.  My husband is 64 and a retired police officer and a Vietnam veteran.  I'm thinking of either contacting the police or calling him back and give him hell for leaving a threatening message on our voicemail.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the country.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

“This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country.  We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves.  Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer,” says IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.” Werfel noted that the first IRS contact with taxpayers on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail
Other characteristics of this scam include:
Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.
Scammers spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.
Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.
After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:
If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue.
If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484.
If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov.  Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.
Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information.  This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead, forward the e-mail to phishing@irs.gov.

More information on how to report phishing scams involving the IRS is available on the genuine IRS website, IRS.gov.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Warns-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam

I had the same incident happen, except they didn't have my address or even know my name. he told me I owed $2700 for tax evasion and that if I didn't comply, he would be sending police to my house to arrest me and they would put me in an interrogation room for 72 hours and I could spend up to 6 years in prison. He also stated that if I told anyone, the cops would be at my door in 5 minutes. I blocked the number on my cell phone but feel the need to get the word out about this. I could see some people being afraid and falling for this scam.

Received 2 messages a few days apart.  Same details as everyone else is reporting...warrant for my arrest that my physical address is being monitored and that I must call urgently.  

Originates in India.  Been around since at least 2009.

See:  

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam