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:
This number is a scam!
They called my mom saying that she was going to be arrested and that she owned them $800. They claim to be DEA agents, but when I called the actual DEA they said that they have received many calls about these posers and that it is a complete scam. I didn't even complete my question to the real DEA and they knew what I was talking about. Do not pay them!
I got the exact same ph. call today (7/19/2010). They left a message stating that they were DEA... and something about an impending search warrant (the individual leaving the message had a thick accent so not all that was said was understood on my behalf). They left 202-241-0211 as a call-back number. On my own I found the "real" DEA's phone number, called and received the same response as the 1st poster. I knew it had to be a scam, being a law abiding citizen that hasn't even had a traffic ticket in 20 years. What scum bags!
I was just called today with that same number and a man calling himself Manuel Costello from the DEA said that there is a bench warrant out for my arrest and that I was facing 3-5 years in jail. He was verbally abusive, yelled when I questioned him, threatened to send the police out immediately because I was being difficult (asking questions)...
I called my husband who then called the DEA in our local town and let us know that it all was a debt collector scam.
I just now called him "Manuel Costello" back and left him a message that his scam is well known and he should be ashamed of himself.... just as I was writing this he called me back (with his phone number blocked) I simply told him to never call me again and hung up...
I am in shock.... I wish there was a way to let everyone know about this before they get scared to death!!
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: