Received call form this number 202-241-8313 - looks like it was a scam. They claimed to be the Tax Crime Investigation Bureau and that we owed money to the IRS, even going as far as saying they had an affidavit they could read from the IRS. I got two names, Michael Davis (very thick foreign accent) and Rico Lopez. Fortunately, they only got name from me and nothing else! I called the IRS to see if there was any monies due and they said no and that there was no communication made to us. SO BEWARE PEOPLE...I even called the number back and there was no answer, then, big surprise, they called me back...I told them how could they do that and they hung up...
Just got an almost identical rundown to Mrs. Smith. Thick foreign accent, call center noise in the background, etc. This scam has been going on for awhile. The IRS has stated they rarely if ever initiate contact with a phonecall, they almost always lead with a letter delivered by standard mail.
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:
They have called me from the same number three times today. They are asking for an elderly man...I only know this because the mans family has called my number looking for him. I wasn't very polite ...as I do not appreciate scam artist especially when I know they are trying to take advantage of my elders. Needless to say after I blessed him out and hung up on him . He called me back...lol. Makes me sick what they are doing to people.
Same call. Have received this call many times in the last few months. Michael Davis with the IRS left a message that I was in serious trouble and me or my attorney needed to call him asap to stop legal action on me. Michael Davis has a very strong accent and a lot of background noise in the call Total scam from India! Oh! and he said it was a very time sensitive matter and he couldn't help me for long but he keeps calling.