These IRS Telephone Scammer scumbags call and try to get innocent people to turn over money and information under the threat that the IRS will have them arrested.
I have received these calls before and just ignored them. There were so many in a short time period here in Missoula that the local news actually ran a spot on them warning people about the IRS telephone scammers and to not fall for their tactics and threats.
I received another one of these calls today and decided to call them back. Here are the results:
This is what the IRS has listed about this kind of IRS Telephone Scammer:
IRS-Impersonation Telephone Scam
An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.
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.
Or, victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information.
If the phone isn’t answered, the scammers often leave an “urgent” callback request.
Note that the IRS will never: 1) call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; 2) demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; 3) require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card; 4) ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 5) threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
Warning on the News
There was also a warning on the news when these were going on.
The IRS has pages devoted to scams such as this. Unfortunately, this is only one of the many IRS scams out there. You can find out more at:
Another Recorded Call with an IRS Scammer – Don’t Fall For These Scum!
I guess I was not the only one called last week. There was a spot on today’s NBC news (2/23/17) about these calls: