There is a fairly common IRS or "tax scam" being practiced by scammers on both Canadian and USA residents.
USA tax payers should read this:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam
Short answer:
The IRS never initiates a contact via phone.
They always send a snailmail first.
Educational post:
This scam is also described as scam #11, here:
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/facts_rev.html
Remember to return here, to 800notes.com, after you look at any of the information at that site, either to post more information, or to let us know you avoided the scam, or to read any further information about that number that others may post.
Oh, by the way. I forgot to add that the phone trace I initiated revealed the phone number used of 202-241-7039 and 202-241-8254 are majic jack spoof numbers. Meaning they can be in Florida and hack a number thru majic jack in Washington to make it look like they are calling from there. If they really piss me off I'll start backtracking there IP addresses and get thir exact location.
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 but not by calling them back directly (the number may be spoofed and repeat calls by you may - under exceptional circumstances- amount to harassment). 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 phone's user claims he is Attorney Alex Watson - the records from both the IRS and the FBI state that this Scam has been going on for several months, and they are working on it. If you receive a call from them again, record the caller's voice and turn it in to IRS by dialing 800 366 4484.
BEWARE MAJOR SCAM!!!!
The call comes in from a NY number: 845-786-8730. They are suppose to represent the IRS and ask you to call:
202-241-7039. I played their game and called. The person are on phone "claimed" to be a lawyer (LIE) and told me
(without knowing anything about me) about a pending lawsuit against me from the IRS. They want credit-debit card information to proceed to represent you.
The IRS does not do any of these things via phone (as indicated in previous posts).
HANG UP AND DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THIS SCAM.
Left a message saying they are the IRS and basically going to sue me and that this was their final attempt (never got one before this). They told me to call 202 241 7039 but the caller ID showed 516-785-9767.