Who called from 2022412787

Received 2 phone calls last night from 202-241-2787 around 8:15 pm ET from a man with a strong Indian accent by the name of "Frankie Jenson" claiming to be from CID Division of Homeland Security Re: Case # 830402. He told me that I was being investigated by the IRS for wire transfer money fraud, and that I had to pay $1000.00 in full immediately or Homelend Security would be coming to my home in 3 days to arrest me. He started demanding my SS#, Bank routing and checking acct numbers! When I threatened to call my lawyer he got hostile and rude saying a lawyer would not be able to help me! So I hung up on him. Then he called right back demanding to speak to only me. Once my husband got on the phone this person hung up and that was the end of it, for now, unless they call back. This is a SCAM!! If you receive same type of call DO not give them any information! Did my research last night after receiving this very upsetting phone call. The IRS will only contact you by mail and never by phone or email to demand SS or bank acct. numbers. Call the IRS at 1-800-366-4844 and make a report if you receive a call from these Scammers!

More than 20,000 taxpayers have been targeted by fake Internal Revenue Service agents in the largest phone scam the agency has ever seen, the IRS inspector general said Thursday.

Thousands of victims have lost a total of more than $1 million.

As part of the scam, fake IRS agents call taxpayers, claim they owe taxes, and demand payment using a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer. Those who refuse are threatened with arrest, deportation or loss of a business or driver's license, said J. Russell George, Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

Real IRS agents usually contact people first by mail, George said. And they don't demand payment by debit card, credit card or wire transfer.

The inspector general's office started receiving complaints about the scam in August. Immigrants were the primary target early on, the IG's office said. But the scam has since become more widespread.

Tax scams often escalate during filing season, George said. People have been targeted in nearly every state.

"This is the largest scam of its kind that we have ever seen," George said in a statement. "The increasing number of people receiving these unsolicited calls from individuals who fraudulently claim to represent the IRS is alarming."

The script is similar in many calls, leading investigators to believe they are connected. The inspector general's office is working with major phone carriers to try to track the origins of the calls, the IG's office said.

The scam has been effective in part because the fake agents mask their caller ID, making it look like the call is coming from the IRS, George said. In some cases, fake agents know the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and follow up with official-looking emails.

They request prepaid debit cards because they are harder to trace than bank cards. Prepaid debit cards are different from bank cards because they are not connected to a bank account. Instead, consumers buy the cards at stores, and use them just like a bank card, until the money runs out or they add more.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/irs- ... argest-22989895

This is a magicJack number, according to phonevalidator.com :

Phone Number:    202-241-2787    
Date of this Report:    March 22, 2014
Phone Line Type:    LANDLINE
Phone Company:    YMAX CORP -- POSSIBLE MAGICJACK VOIP

(YMAX Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MagicJack VocalTec, Ltd, and provides the phone numbers assigned to magicJack devices.)

Here are two good reasons to be suspicious of these and other "official" sounding magicJack callers claiming to be with the government -- particularly if they have "202" area code numbers assigned:
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/schemes-and-ripoffs-magic-jack-scam/24207906
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/1-million-ir ... t-ever/25097300

And here is how to get a magicJack in India:
http://magicjack.in
And this is all you need to supply to begin using it (to my knowledge, none of this information is actually confirmed for the free service term that comes with the hardware you buy):

"What all particulars you need for registration?
When you plug in the magicjack for the first time, a small registration screen will appear.
You will need to fill in your details such as name, address, email, username, password,ect
then you will need to select your own USA/Canada phone number and you are ready to call."
http://magicjack.in/faqs/

And that is why there are so many Indian scammers using magicJacks.

Got many calls and callbacks from this number today.  A man w/ a heavy Slavic accent said he was from a private investigation firm and he was calling in regards to an arrest warrant for me.  I asked him his name and company name, where the warrant was filed and a case #.  He wouldn't give me any info and kept avoiding giving me particulars. I hung up.  He immediately called back 5-8 times and when he still wouldn't provide info, I hung up each time.  After a while I called the FBI and made an incident report.  Obviously a spoofed # and a scam.  Annoys the hell out of me, and I wish there was a way to track down these S**TBAGS and put then in a dark hole.

There is no "company". This is a criminal overseas extortion scam:

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the country.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

“This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country.  We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves.  Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer,” says IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.” Werfel noted that the first IRS contact with taxpayers on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail
Other characteristics of this scam include:
Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.
Scammers spoof the IRS toll-free number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.
Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.
After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:
If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue.
If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484.
If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov.  Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.
Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information.  This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead, forward the e-mail to [email protected].

More information on how to report phishing scams involving the IRS is available on the genuine IRS website, IRS.gov.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Warns-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam