IRS Warns of Telephone Scam

Issue Number: IR-2013-84
IRS Warns of Pervasive Telephone Scam

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 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 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

Was JUST about to post a thread about this! This is from the local news site: http://www.channel3000.com/money/IRS-warns-of ... az/-/index.html

Sounds like a variation on the old pay day loan scam, right up to having the last four digits of the SSAN,  threats of arrest, and fake "common names"  and  badge numbers.   I notice the IRS didn't mention strong  accents or foreign call centers, but you can bet they are at the bottom of this one.

You're probably right bo...and since I've been seeing you posting quite a bit you might want to think about registering on the site!

I just got one of these calls today. I hung up on them and they called back five times because I was selecting ignore on their call. They did give me a ID number and common name with a foreign accent. I have filed a complaint with FTC and put my number on the DNC list. They asking questions like....have I been contacted by local authorities. I decided not to respond and hung up that is when the back to back calls started.

I got call and VM from 7162266940 saying he Damien Smith from IRS. He claims A lawsuit has been filed against me and asking me to call him back.

Seems this is scam and already known and reported. Any action expected from this end?

Contact the real IRS, just to make sure, and then report the call to then, the FTC, and local law enforcement.

Hi there - I also received a voicemail this morning from a Damien Smith, supposedly from the IRS, and he left the exact same message as posted by Ram, claiming that a lawsuit had been filed against me, and to call him back.

It amazes me how brazen he sounded!

I just got a call from a so-called Mr. Jones (202-808-3735). I answered an automated message telling me to call back immediately and NOT ignore the call. When i called, he know my address and last 4 of my social. Intuitively i felt there was something fraudulent about the nature of the call and how he was going about the hole thing. But he threatened me to cooperate and stated that an affidavit of complaint was being issued charging four (4) counts of federal crimes of willfully tax evasion, money laundering, omission, and tax evasion. and that a warrant for my arrest would be issued within 45 minutes. Like a moron i did verify my last 4 digits of my social and my home address (kicking myself in the butt right now). I was so alarmed and he was so rude, threatening to deport me and my sick elderly parents that i found myself being compliant and polite to him and even apologizing to him for even questioning him and for stating that i was an upright and honest citizen. It scared the heck out of me because i do in fact have a pending immigration application to sponsor my wife who is overseas, so i felt there were too many "true" things he knew about me, such as money i have been sending my wife that i concluded that I better indulge the conversation further it to get more information. He didn't get any bank account info from me or ask me for any money but i suspect that a subsequent call will follow. I am actually calling the real IRS and am on hold right now. I will no doubt report this to the FTC and my local authorities. God, i hope this doesn't happen to anyone else. If my sick and elderly parents even heard the conversation, i fear one of them would have a heart attack. May we all be safe. God bless.

I got a call from this Kevin Jones, criminal investigator for the IRS.  He states not to ignor the call and to call back.  When I did call he asked for the phone number he called. He stated that he is looking for my husband. But, when I googled the number it says it is a scam.  So i did not have my husband call

forgot to include the number   202-808-3735.  Also the number that came up on the phone was an 800 from the IRS, so beware

I got a call from 585-568-6661 saying that he name is Alex Brown from IRS, asking for my wife (he had the name right). He was asking to speak to her and I asked  him what is it about. He told me that he had received business complains about her. Odd thing is she is a stay-at -home mom. I told him I am the husband and told him that my phone is on the do-not call registry. He got pissed and told me to wait for the cops. I told him ok and he hung-up. BTW: This guys spoken english had a heavy middle eastern accent and grammar was quite bad. I would expect people who know how to communicate well to be given the task call and talk to ppl.

Absurd and irritating..

A man called name James Ross from 903-960-5217 stating that i have been approved for 1000 loan. He stated that i need to go and obtain a Vanilla reload money card and put 150.00 dollars on it, so i can prove that i can pay monthly for the loan. like a dummie i did exactly what he told me to do. One hour later he call back and said he could not deposit the money, because i have red scores on my credit. He began to tell me how he can help me still get the loan. He said if i pay 408.00, that he will deposit 1600 in to my account within a hour, that the 600.00 will be on the company and i will only have to pay back the 1000 dollars.  I told him i didn't want the loan anymore and he said he was going to hold on to my 150.00 deposit. I called and told him   that i knew this was a scam and he threaten to call the police and have me sitting in front of a judge within 24 hours. SCAM

Today i got a call from phone number 716-201-8025 and left me a message that there is an IRS lawsuit against me didnt even know my name or left my name on voice mail. it sounds like a recorded message. so first think i did instead of calling him back was Googled it and here i am . i am not calling him back and not waste my time on it.

Today I got call from Damian Marshall from IRS saying there's a warrant for my arrest for tax discrepancies over the last 10 years. The number was 202 506 9166. He wanted $4k for unpaid taxes.
SCAM!!!