I received a call from 571-210-5561 that I let go to voicemail on January 24, 2015 at 10:03 AM CST. The recording that was left said: “This is Jonathan Knight and I am calling from Federal Investigations Department of IRS. My badge number is 46719. The matter at the hand is extremely time sensitive and urgent and after audit we found that there was a fraud and misconduct on your taxes which you are hiding from the Federal Government so this needs to be rectified immediately so do return the call as soon as you receive the message. Again, this is Jonathan Knight from the IRS.”
I immediately blocked this number as I know this is a fraudulent call as my spouse is high up in the IRS and she deals with these fraudulent morons all the time. I hope nobody is fooled by these foreign accents calling from afar using VOIP through various easily acquired technologies. As soon as “Jonathan Knight” is blocked enough and/or found out about, the fraudsters will just use the same list of phone numbers and spam us all back from a new number but probably with a new message under a new name.
These are criminal extortionists operating in overseas boiler rooms using VOIP to alter their identities and locations and out of the reach of US law enforcement.
If someone calls saying he's an IRS agent and demands that you send money immediately, hang up.
It's a phone scam.In fact, it tops the IRS "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams this year, and it's been surging in recent months, the agency said Thursday.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which oversees the IRS, has received reports of 290,000 scam calls since October 2013 and said nearly 3,000 victims have been swindled out of $14 million so far.
By altering their caller ID number to make it look like they're calling from an IRS office, these scammers often threaten vulnerable people like the elderly and new immigrants with things like arrest, deportation or the loss of their driver's license if they don't pay immediately for money purportedly owed.
Often leaving messages that say it's "urgent" you call them back, the scammers use common names and sometimes say they are from the IRS Criminal Division. They may even claim to know the last four digits of your Social Security number and send follow-up emails that appear to be from the IRS, TIGTA said.
They often demand that payments be made by prepaid debit card.
Once they make their threats, the scammers have been known to call back and again disguise their caller ID so it appears they are calling from the police department or the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Or sometimes when they call, they may say you have a refund due and ask you to provide personal information so you can claim it.
The real IRS will usually contact you by regular mail first, if it needs to contact you at all. And the agency never demands immediate payment by phone or asks for credit card or debit numbers if they do call. It also never asks for personal or financial information by email, text or social media.
If you get what you suspect is a scam call, report it to TIGTA through its Web site or call 800-366-4484.
I've received the same call twice, Jonathan Knight from the IRS. The reason I know it is a bogus call is because the guy is so stupid that he never leaves a phone number to call back. The only reason I even know the number that he's calling from is because I got a new phone that shows it. I'm pretty sure he won't be scamming me if he doesn't leave a number -- DUH!!
I received a call from (571) 210-5561. They left a strange message saying "This is Jonathan Knight of the Federal Investigation Department of the IRS, badge number 06719", a title that is immediately suspect, since, the IRS is the IRS and Federal Investigation is the FBI, and any accusations of misconduct I would suppose would only come from an IRS attorney in a court of law, and would suppose an IRS representative looking to shore up accounts would have the wisdom to simply say "there seems to be a discrepancy on your account, we need to talk about it."
I'm sure glad I typed into google what these idiots had to say. For one, they didn't name me by name, and for two, they didn't even leave a call-back number. Talk about amateur night, but it still had me wondering what could be the issue and saying "Who cares? They can't take away my birthday." haha
When I called the number identified as the one the call came from, it goes straight to a disconnection sound: "BEEP BOOP BEEP, the number you have dialed has been disconnected."
Bunch of crooks; they're idiots to think a life of fooling others is worth the time just for a fast buck.
Called leaving similar message to above. Used the name Heidi from Hyatt hotel then said it was Jonathan Knight. It would be interesting to know if there really was an agent named Jonathan Knight. I bet he would be upset at them using his name in vain lol