Fake IRS agents target more than 366,000 in huge tax scam

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal investigator says fake IRS agents have targeted more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls demanding payments and threatening jail time as part of a huge nationwide scam.

A deputy inspector general for the agency says more than 3,000 people have fallen for the ruse since October 2013. He says they have been duped out of a total of $15.5 million.

In testimony before Congress Thursday, Timothy Camus said it is the largest scam of its kind in the history of the agency. Camus said people in every state have been targeted.

He said two people in Florida have been arrested. They were accused of being part of a scam that involved people in call centers in India contacting U.S. taxpayers and pretending to be IRS agents.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2015/03/12/fake_irs_agents_target_more_than_366000_in_huge_tax_scam/

[misterhighwasted]

1. Sen Wyden & Hatch & others held a hearing (CSPAN) this morning about this:

They are seeking input from tax officials, tech companies & others to assist in putting together a bill that will limit this.

It was a very good discussion with info how the State of Indiana has tried to curb the tax scam.

Hear is the video link:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?324730-1/hearing-tax-scam-protection

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. 2 of my elderly neighbors asked me about this.

Bless their hearts, they are not very....sophisticated, and the recorded call panicked them.

I filed an online report with our State AG office, who sent me back a letter telling me they could not accept the report until I provided the name, phone number and correct address of the scammer who robocalled me!
Republican owned state, of course.

And we wonder why these guys can continue with their scams.......

[Lefta Dissenter]

25. There's a link on the IRS website

to report these calls. You provide only the information you have. I reported on behalf of a couple of our clients (I work for a bankruptcy attorney), and simply gave the phone number of the scammers, and the information that I had called the number and that the person answered saying it was the Internal Revenue Service.

I sure as hell hope they catch these people. Some of our clients have endured months and months of harassing calls from creditors and fake creditors, and they're overwhelmed and scared when they think that the IRS is after them, too.

[bigworld]

3. Why is nearly every scam based in Florida?

[Still Sensible]

4. So what is the ruse?

What should we be looking for?

[peace13]

7. The call says that you have an urgent matter to discuss with the IRS.

It is a recording and gives a phone number to call to 'resolve' the issues! My guess is that if you call them back they solicit money from you, pretending to be the IRS. I received several in Oho.

[Still Sensible]

13. Thanks! n/t

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. I got a few of those.

I live in Virginia. The phone numbers I was supposed to call (there was more than one) had a 202 exchange. I reported them to the DC AG. I got the standard "there's nothing we can do" brushoff.

[Nay]

20. I got a few of those in Virginia, too. I ignored them because I knew we didn't owe a damn thing. nt

[peace13]

22. Mine were area code 202 as well! N/t

[Lochloosa]

15. From the IRS website

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.

[Cal33]

23. Thanks for letting everyone know.

[peace13]

5. Thank you for posting this!

I have had several of these calls. Each time I hung up but it was a weird feeling just the same. I can imagine how upsetting it would be to a senior! I thought about reporting it to the Sheriff but there really was nothing to forward to them. Glad this is the news.

[sharp_stick]

6. I verbally abused the shit

out of the poor sap that called me with this idiocy. I think it took him and his poor English skills a minute to figure out that the things I suggested he did with his Mother and a goat were just a tad unsavory.

[Treant]

9. The poor goat.

Why you gotta be pickin' on the goats like that?

[Shrike47]

8. I got one from a guy who sounded just like a Nigerian or something. It was a Caliif. number.

I wondered why the I.R.S. didn't hire someone who speaks intelligible English to make these calls. Anyway, I was laughing as I hung up - just seemed silly to me.

[father founding]

10. My name is kookie

Another curse of the outsource.Just can't wait for TPP,

[heaven05]

11. I got two of those calls

the first one I gave them my what for.....explicitly, they hung up, second one I told them how stupid they were and to send the warrant for my arrest in the mail. they hung up. Since last month these "call centers scams" have caused me all manner of financial and personal difficulty in loan scams and secret shopper scams. The IRS only contacts by mail or so I have been led to believe. The calls I have gotten taken with were, I guess, from those call centers mentioned in article. Beware!

[Cal33]

24. I think it would be better to tell them off without explaining what they did wrong. Doing

so would only help them avoid making the same mistake with their next intended victim.

[2naSalit]

12. I've found that the best response

is to laugh out loud like I just heard the funniest thing in the world and then, once I stop laughing (if they are still there) I suggest that they go *F* themselves with an oak tree before I hang up.

[Lochloosa]

14. From the IRS Website. They never call demanding payment!

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.

[mrdmk]

16. Link to the source please

Just joking, thanks for your efforts to find the information

[byronius]

17. Got one as well.

Easy to spot the fake for me. Others, though -- it could be anxiety-inducing enough to work.

[project_bluebook]

19. These IRS scam calls are still going on

Local news warned about it today, robo calls from fake IRS demanding money. Criminals know that Americans will fall for it, just look how many believe the biggest fraudsters of all, republicans.

[Bryce Butler]

21. I hope they call me, I'd love to use this on them...

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

27. OH MY GOD LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

26. They have called my land line several times, not sure if they are calling cell phones

I can see how older folk can get stung by this...

I mean it stretches common sense for anyone to fall for it but I feel sorry for people who do

a couple times I have talked to the caller just to see how far they take it, how they want to get the money, then I call them no good motherfuckers and they hang up

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. I got one of those a few weeks ago - they left a voicemail message

but of course I didn't return the call because I knew from the git-go that it was bogus (although I am also a senior citizen) because I knew I didn't owe any tax, and because the IRS never calls you on the phone or emails you - if they claim you owe them money they will send you a letter. It amazes me that anyone falls for these sorts of scams.

[SheilaT]

29. I haven't gotten that one yet.

Every few months I get the fake call from Microsoft about my computer. I just hang up on them.

And it is sad that anyone would fall for this, but so many older people, especially if they've never had problems with the IRS, wouldn't have a clue how they'd actually go about collecting back taxes.

[Thor_MN]

30. This kind of crap would be dead simple for the NSA to halt.

It would be about the simplest "pattern matching" they could hope for. Use the meta data searching they are already doing for a bit of good, bust these assholes and all the other spammers and fine them into submission.