I've received a call today from this number, and the man left a message, saying in heavy INDIAN accented, which was almost impossible to unferstand, in the background there's a woman and child voices, the line was a very bad connection, he called from a Saint Antonio, TX line with a # (210-888-9161), and THIS LINE I called literally within seconds from his message, and the line had a "Voice Mail" that didn't say anything like " You've reached the IRS line, etc..".. Instead it's a very, very subtle Indian Accent lady, that recording said: " The person you're trying to reach is not available, leave your message". I didn't, but I almost did...and he said he was from the "IRS FRAUD AND TAX EVASION" office, and that I needed to call ASAP, before he sent to "whatever Dept" he tried to say, then he said: "My name is...(pause here).. Officer Richard Park" ! And if I didn't return his call, he was sending the Sherrifs Dept, and I would be ARRESTED!! At the first moment, I honestly panicked, because I'm like "Oh My God! WTH is this?" I didnt owe any back taxes, I've never had any problem with IRS in 25 yrs....and I can see how a person, like me, that the word " FRAUD, EVASION, ARREST" made me NOT think rationally, because he purposely SCARED ME with that crap. Now, I can totally see those poor, naive Older Citizens, falling for these, because I, that I'm normally intelligent, and good at judging crap...even Scams, etc..I ALMOST fell for it, I'm embarrassed to say!....BE AWARE! I called the IRS right after, and they confirmed that the US IRS, would NEVER CALL OR EMAIL ANY INDIVIDUAL, THREATENING, OR OTHERWISE. THAT THE NORMAL PROCEDURE IS, THEY SEND AN OFFICIAL IRS STAMPED LETTER, AND ON THAT LETTER, THERE'S THE NAME AND PHONE NUMBER FOR THE AGENT THAT WILL HELP, AND EVEN THE REAL AGENTS, THEY'LL NEVER ASK YOUR WHOLE SS #, AND THEY WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS TO INDENTIFY THEMSELVES, AND BOTTOM LINE? IRS DOESNT CALL PEOPLE'S MACHINES, CELL PHONES ETC... NEVER! LET'S TRY TO KEEP THESE A-HOLES FROM SCAMING MORE PEOPLE!
Report the Calls to the real IRS here:
•report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
•You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. Add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.
******
Do consider getting a call blocking device or phone.. You can google them and many are around $40.00 or so.If its a cell phone, some already have call blocking, if not, there are free apps on the web that will work for some. You can google this. If you have a smart phone, there is a free app called call control. Iphones appear to have apps also. Another one is called Mr. Number.