Strange message from the 'IRS'
 

Today I got a call from a DC number - I didn't pick up but they left a message. The man had an Indian accent and said he was from the IRS and that I had to call him back and that I'm being investigated. Hmmmmm ok.
He said if I didn't call back that 'the cops' in my town would arrest me. So I called back and it went to voice mail - this time it was of another person with an Indian accent but a women. She said she was with the IRS as well. The answering machine said her mail box was full and wouldn't take any messages.

First off I don't think the IRS would call and leave such a message. It has scam written all over it.

Have you guys had this happen?

I haven't had it happen, but I've heard of similar stuff. The IRS wouldn't proceed like that, and if they left a message to call, they would make damn sure the mailbox wasn't full. I also don't think there's anyway in hell that they would threaten cops coming to get you. If the IRS wanted cops to come get you, I don't think they'd warn you.

It's clearly a scam. It's very, very easy to make your caller ID say anything you want it to say assuming your telco will let you.

Get email from the 'IRS' and 'Equifax' all the time saying my credit report has changed.

Those guys are impersonating federal officers.
That's a little bit of a no-no.

Reverse look-up the number.

Mrs. Noah was at her parents' house a couple weeks ago. The phone rang and she answered. She got some schpiel that someone at the house was looking at "terrorist websites." She thanked them and hung up (but not before she caught the number and location on caller ID). It was a big family weekend, so there were about 15 people staying at the house. Regardless, I figured the FBI (or CIA or NSA) usually don't call you to warn you about stuff like that even if it's true. I looked up the number and it's associated with a telemarketer. Plus, there happens to be an FBI office in the neighboring town. So I told Mrs. Noah that if that caller were to call back, just let him know we were grateful for the information, and that we'd be happy to forward his concerns, phone number, and location to the FBI office just a few miles away. :)

It's happening here too, its a scam

Over-The-Phone Tax Scam Prompts Alert By The Internal Revenue Service | News - KEYT

I got hit with the same thing so I posted it here a few months ago. He mention deposit money at a government store. WTF is a government store? Same Indian accent with with an English first and last name.

The IRS will never telephone first.

Always Snail Mail.

Ignore it.

As per Godar

from PP: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/813343-got-phone-scam-morning.html

I had the same thing recently, same threat about cops coming to arrest me blah blah. Its a huge scam.

Yeah, and I got a personal invite to the White House to talk strategy with the loser. :D

Don't think you have anything to worry about.

+1

This is very true. The IRS only uses mail. They are also on a timeline that is very long and patient. Just went through this with in laws taxes. Very paced correspondance. Talked to a real person and they were nice and explained the process timeline. 30-45 day cycle.

In the end, I provided the documents they needed. 30 some odd days later they sent a letter saying they got the info, 20 days later a letter came and said we were ok. No added taxes owed.

So, in my recent example, I know the IRS would not call like that.

Scam

It's fortunate that most scammers are foreign and stupid.

Come and get me habeeb.

I knew it was a scam but there was that little voice inside that really wanted to hear what they had to say. I know I shouldn't do it but I prolly get a call a week about some sort of thing and I always talk to them longer ten they want - it's entertaining to me and it wastes their time, time which they could be using to scam some old person.

I do wonder how successful these things are - must be or they wouldn't keep doing it right?

We've gotten 3 calls from that number this week. I heard they estimate that scam has netted over $4 million. Ridiculous.

Wonder how much they could make if they applied the same energy towards something legit? About 1/20th I would imagine ...

Fear and greed seem to be the quickest way to get into a wallet.

It's stopped for the most part, but a few months back I was getting 4 or more calls per day from some scammers who sounded like they were from India. It was some payday loan scam.

I decided since they wouldn't stop calling, I'd mess with them. I played with the guy for 15 minutes before he finally realized I wasn't going to offer up the $50 "application fee" he wanted to process my "loan".

I get companies wanting me to refinance with them - I waste their time for a bit them tell them either I don't have a mortgage - house paid off or I was forclosed on. Of course I always go into a long stream of consciousness type story filled with romance, thievery and mayhem. It's worth a laugh to anyone hearing it (save my wife who always gets pissec off when I do it ).

We get the bs scam calls all the time at work. The most useless are the ones that claim they are from google. All we can do is waste their time is things are slow at the moment. If we are busy we just hang up.

I seem to get a couple calls a day, but not home when they call, the caller ID says "Novatel."

Maybe some phones can do this, but I've never heard of it, but wouldn't it be cool if you could just hit a button and that number would never again make the phone ring?

sounds like an opportunity for an app. wish I knew how to write them.

Flatbut, take it one step farther and the app could share the number with other and we all could block that same telemarketer even if they've never called.

There is a free service that you can sign up with that will intercept calls from numbers you provide and prevent them from ringing on your phone. The only requirement is that your phone service must provide for remote ringing. I tried to sign up but, alas, our land line service does not provide for remote ringing so the service will not work for me. Sorry, I cannot remember the name of the service but Google will probably turn it up.

And we got the exact phone message as the OP, just last week, left on our answer machine. We have a audio caller ID set up and it's gotten to the point where we do not answer any calls from numbers or names we do not know. If the call is legitimate, they will leave a message and we'll call back or pick-up during the message. We must get calls from unknown/mystery sources at least 7-10 to times per day, and none leave a message. The numbers that habitually call, I can block but, unfortunately, my system is limited to 30 blocked numbers.

Robo calls, scammers, solicitors--what a bunch of PITAs!

We used to get random calls from people like the OP. We got a caller ID system to avoid it. Then we just disconnected our phone all together, since we never answered it and went to cell phones. Been 10 years now.

Naw, no way its a scam.

Really? You had to ask? Were you being facetious or just looking for attention? I wouldn't think you are that naive.

On a brighter note, it may be another opportunity for you to take pictures of a woman trying to do her job.

Maybe if you are lucky Lois Lerner will come to your house.

Joe,
Just making a note. That's all.

Just tell them that your hard drive crashed, you wiped and destroyed your Blackberry, and getting them information from a backup server is too onerous.

Strange story but these people seem to be everywhere. They must have heaps of motivation so I'm guessing through sheer numbers they're actually making money.

If I got a call like that I would report it to the authorities immediately especially considering you actually have a DC phone number.
Sure they're not actually at the location of the phone line but I would report it anyway.

FWIW... I don't answer my land line at home any more. I let everything go to the answering machine.
I figure if it's important they'll call my mobile.

On an iPhone, go to recent calls, press the i with the circle around it (to the right of any number). Scroll down and you will see the option to block this number. Press that and no more calls from that number.

These (fake IRS agent calls) and the "microsoft-approved computer repairmen" which call me on occassion really love to hear about their parents being involved in explicit sexual acts with various barnyard animals (especially bovines). You would be surprised how quickly they go "off script" and blow their front and start swearing and cussing before they hang up.

Seems to be a nationwide deal - just saw a report about this on TV yesterday.

My 81 year old mother called me last year. She told me that the IRS was on the other line and she was delinquent on her tax payment. They were going to put a lien on her place if she did not make the payment. I told her not to give them any money, it sounded like a scam. Called our accountant right away to check it out.
Turns out it was legit. The accountant found she had received letters earlier in the year, but she had not responded to them.

This is a great example of being cautious and following through. We all know the IRS does not initially contact people by phone, but often does so after notifications by mail have been sent. In this case, E Sully was very wise to follow up with his mother's accountant to verify the call as many of us might have just blown off the call as a scam on an elderly woman. Perhaps he asked her a few pertinent questions about the call which caused him to get verification with the accountant. Regardless, his heads-up saved his mother further grief with the IRS.

Since I have been the beneficiary of one of these calls, as I imagine many of you have as well, it is really nice to hear when someone has punked them so well. Careful, our friendly "Microsoft" IT support guy gets a little over the top with the F word during the conversation, but this is just what I would have loved to have done when these yahoos called me. I just blew them off instead. It is 33 minutes, but pretty funny.

Scam Microsoft IT Support call (you have to listen to it!) - CNET Computer help Forums