Thank you to everyone who reported this as a scam. I've had trouble with the IRS in the past that I've only just straightened out, so when I got this scam call today it freaked me out. They left me a message and when I tried to call back the voicemail box didn't take messages, which tipped me off to check on here. Thank god I did. Blocking this number now!
Confirmed fraud attempt (Crime investigation department of IRS script). 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:
Caller says he is " Officer John White" from the IRS. He has a heavy foreign accent and advised that he was signing an arrest warrant for 6 officers to pick me up for tax evasion since 2008. When I challenged him, he abruptly stated "do not disrespect/interrupt an officer" and hung up. He has called back on several occasions. I guess the best thing to do is not answer this number at all.