I also got a call from the same number on the same day at 2:42pm. The caller made the same statements to me as he did to you. The only difference is he just referred to us as recipients of the call. I called my tax preparer who informed me that it's a scam artist and to simply hang up on him if he calls back. I tried to return his call, just out of curiosity, and got a voice mail that was set up to sound legitimate. Clever people!!! WOW!
I had this guy call twice, I let my machine get it both times, 1040 division of the IRS. "Do not ignore this call" and everyone above is right IRS will NOT CALL. Second time the guy called I grabbed the phone as he was leaving a msg and told him he was full of it, he threw the F bomb at me, professional and from the IRS huh? nahhhh :)
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:
I also got a call from the same number on the same day at 2:42pm. The caller made the same statements to me as he did to you. The only difference is he just referred to us as recipients of the call. I called my tax preparer who informed me that it's a scam artist and to simply hang up on him if he calls back. I tried to return his call, just out of curiosity, and got a voice mail that was set up to sound legitimate. Clever people!!! WOW!
received call from this number claiming to be IRS. knew our names and threatening IRS action if I didnt return call. Didnt think IRS conducted business like this. Wish the guy would show up at my door to collect.
Just got a call from this person with a foreign accent, stated that I owed the IRS thousands of dollars. When I asked for the information in writing and further information, he said the police would be at my home & then hung up. I hope that they come to my door!!!