Message was left on my answer machine. Stating someone in the household or an attorney representing some one in the household should get in touch with Julie Smith of the IRS. They will take action against whomever if they do not call back. The message did not ask for anyone specifically.
Message was left on my answer machine. Stating someone in the household or an attorney representing some one in the household should get in touch with Julie Smith of the IRS. They will take action against whomever if they do not call back. The message did not ask for anyone specifically.
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:
Message was left on my answer machine. Stating someone in the household or an attorney representing some one in the household should get in touch with Julie Smith of the IRS. They will take action against whomever if they do not call back. The message did not ask for anyone specifically.
Same BS message from "Julie Smith" do not return this call it is a scam. A bold scam too posing as the IRS. The IRS would not call you unannounced they will send something in writing to indicate their intention.
Today I got a telephone message from "Julie Smith" with the IRS advising me to quickly return her call before "action was taken against me". The phone number on my caller I.D. was 202-241-7214. I figured it for a scam because everyone I ever knew got a LETTER from the I.R.S., not a mystic phone call. I did not return the call, and erased the message from my caller I.D. If they should call again, I will do whatever is necessary to nail them.