As others said, the recorded robotic message stated that I (or my legal representative) should contact the number immediately (202-506-9784 Julie Smith)to avoid legal action from the IRS. I erased it and did not call. Glad I was able to validate my suspicions here on this site. The IRS or any other agency for that matter, will always send a letter in writing if it were necessary to contact a tax payer. This is a hoax and scam. These folks should be ashamed - get a job and do something productive with your life.
There is a fairly common IRS or "tax scam" being practiced by scammers on both Canadian and USA residents.
USA tax payers should read this:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam
Short answer:
The IRS never initiates a contact via phone.
They always send a snailmail first.
This is a Pakistan or India based IRS scam. Do not fall for it. The IRS does not initiate any legal action via phone.
Read http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/press/press_tigta-2014-03.htm
As general background information, here are a few things you can do:
1) Report it to TIGTA under http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml especially if you have become a victim (lost money, gave personal information etc.). You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint (include “IRS Telephone Scam" in your complaint). This way you can also help the government establish specific fraud patterns.
2) Help kill their phone lines. The scammers use Voice over IP lines (e.g. magicJack (Ymax corporation)) to make it seem as if they are calling from the US. This is always against these companys' terms of service and can lead to immediate termination of their contract and blocking of their IP addresses for future attempts to register. Do a reverse look up of their telephone number (e.g. www.whitepages.com) to identify the Voice over IP provider and report it to the company and or law enforcement (local police and/or state attorney general)
3) If you are really annoyed: call or write to your representative in Congress. As these scams happen all over the country maybe this will trigger a reaction and provide US law enforcement agencies with the political backing and the resources they need to work in India and Pakistan together with local authorities (it can happen, read: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ex-call-cen ... mmission-320427). A US task force has already been set up in Jamaica to nab scammers there (see http://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/library/reports/cornerstone/cornerstone7-1.pdf). You can use the following template for your letter (more powerful!) or email:
Where you always asleep during high school civics? The IRS was created under the US constitution and as a government agency must follow all the laws set down by Congress in the Tax Code and the Regulations. Almost all tax disputes in the US are settled administratively. Police are never involved in tax disputes. Almost no one goes to jail because of tax disputes, unless there is an outright crime involved. . And even when they do, ti must be as the result of a trial with a defendant given due process under the Bill of Rights.
This is a scam. S. C. A. M. Scam.
Originates in India. Been around for a while. IRS does not initiate communications by a telephone cold-call. Or threaten people with jail. Or request payment by untraceable means.
Christ!
Go back to school a take a course in basic US civics and government.