Whew, just got one of these phone calls. Though from the onset I was pretty sure it was a scam, still a bit of a heart-stopper all the same! Will be sending this information on my Representative.
My heart goes out to those who may receive this type of call that may not have the ability to recognize it as a scam.
I also received a message on my answering machine from a very thick accented man. He said his name was either Robin or Robert Larsen from the Legion of Investigation of the IRS. He was calling because of a law suit against me for tax evasion. Of course my first thought was this couldn't be; I pay may taxes every year and owe nothing. My second thought was that I would have received a letter from the IRS before any such phone call would be placed. This was definitely a scam and I advise everyone to be on the alert and be vigilant.
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 but not by calling them back directly (the number may be spoofed and repeat calls by you may - under exceptional circumstances- amount to harassment). 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:
Thanks I appreciate the feedback and will definitely follow up and report the incident. I pretty much knew right away that it was a scam so I did not attempt to call the number back.
Whew, just got one of these phone calls. Though from the onset I was pretty sure it was a scam, still a bit of a heart-stopper all the same! Will be sending this information on my Representative.
My heart goes out to those who may receive this type of call that may not have the ability to recognize it as a scam.