202-506-9840

Caller ID says Washington DC. Did not answer, a VM was left by female robot-voice claiming to be "officer Heather Gray" of the IRS saying: do not ignore / call this number before we pursue legal allegation against you / etc., BS

This is a sad, sick scam.

Just got a call from this number telling me that I need to pay $6248 by today or will be arrested for fraud on taxes.  Persons name that called was Alex Watson.

Just got a call from the "IRS" stating not to ignore this time sensitive call, and I may want to hire an attorney. Scam artist..I'm calling IRS to confirm. I'll update this with more info when available

what did the IRS say?

These calls are not coming from the IRS.

They are coming from cowardly criminals hiding behind a magicJack device plugged in at some God-forsaken corner of the world where there is Internet service.  They simply use a magicJack device and your fear of the IRS the same way a common thief uses a toy pistol hidden in the pocket of his overcoat to make a bulge that looks like a real gun.

You can verify that this is a magicJack number by searching for it at http://www.phonevalidator.com .

The IRS phone scam has been extensively researched at
http://www.pindropsecurity.com/consumer-fraud ... irs-phone-scam/ and it was found that magicJack numbers are frequently used, and many of the scammers are operating out of India.  There is even an audio recording of a call returned to one of these numbers and a written transcript of the recording contained in links from the Pindrop Security blog.

MagicJacks are readily obtainable outside of the United States for about $100 US and can come with up to a year of free calling to the U.S. and Canada as well as a free US-based phone number.  In India, see, for example,
http://magicjack.in .
If the scammer wants to make the call look as though it comes from the IRS or the federal government, he will choose a 202 (Washington, DC) area code number assigned by YMAX Corporation.  If the scammer is ignorant, he will choose a 206 (Washington State) area code telephone number because he won't know the difference between the seat of the federal government and the state of Washington -- they both are "Washington," right?  Sometimes they will choose an entirely different area code for reasons known only to the scammer.

It doesn't take long to turn a profit on scams such as this even if only 1 or 2% of the people they call are fooled into sending a few thousand dollars to the scammers.

In addition to the regular reporting channels, e.g., the Department of the Treasury, the FTC, and/or your local state attorney general's office, you might also report the abuse to YMAX Corp.  This corporation is a fully-owned subsidiary of the company that sells magicJacks and is in charge of assigning telephone numbers to magicJack devices.  I have seen reports that they are pretty good at responding to complaints and may be able to permanently shut off a magicJack device, if necessary, so that it can never be used again.

The YMAX Corp. main web page is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com
and their site giving information on how to lodge a complaint is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com/contact.html

Note that the "contact" website gives a clickable link to a "live chat" where you can make your complaint.

Got a phone call from "Heather gray" claiming to be from IRS. I owed 6000+ and I was going to be arrested tonite becuz I never responded to any letters etc...That was on my answering machine. I called number back and  Didn't know was a scam.  It really rattled me but didn't give any info out! The Man was reading whole letter out to me but couldn't give details of things I asked. Will report number to police! Unbelievable!

I was directed to call the FTC and file a complaint with them.

I got this same message, very convincing till I asked her specific questions and wanted to know her last name and she hung up on me. Now if you call it you get a voice mail message.

What low life people.

got the same message

Same message twice today.