Thanks for these warnings. I received a call on 9/11/14 from the number 202-280-7873. The woman caller stated that she was calling from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS. The woman's tone was menacing, almost threatening. She stated that a "legal affidavit has been filed against you" and that I or my attorney should "return the call immediately" ( to 202-280-7873), to avoid a "legal mess" because of the "case against you." The caller had a foreign accent (sounded South Asian). There was background chatter of other callers, as in a telephone solicitation. I attempted to return the call once; an answering machine picked up with a message in the same woman's voice, saying that the number was the "Department of the Treasury IRS," that "no one was available to take the call" and "to leave a detailed message." I hung up without leaving a message. I suspected a scam and did a Web search for the telephone number 202-280-7873 --I found this Web site. I'll report the call to http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml
They have called 3 times. Left almost unintelligible message. Hung up 3rd time. Stated IRS fraud and I should not disregard message. Had a threatening tone.
Confirmed fraud attempt (IRS script). 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:
Thanks for these warnings. I received a call on 9/11/14 from the number 202-280-7873. The woman caller stated that she was calling from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS. The woman's tone was menacing, almost threatening. She stated that a "legal affidavit has been filed against you" and that I or my attorney should "return the call immediately" ( to 202-280-7873), to avoid a "legal mess" because of the "case against you." The caller had a foreign accent (sounded South Asian). There was background chatter of other callers, as in a telephone solicitation. I attempted to return the call once; an answering machine picked up with a message in the same woman's voice, saying that the number was the "Department of the Treasury IRS," that "no one was available to take the call" and "to leave a detailed message." I hung up without leaving a message. I suspected a scam and did a Web search for the telephone number 202-280-7873 --I found this Web site. I'll report the call to http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml
Same info exactly as above. This is a direct scam--just ignore it-- is dumb.. Happened just as person above mentioned. I reported it to authorites--it is so dumb. Everyone should know IRS never calls u. Ever. Never sends email. Downright stupid scammer. Received a call today. Frankly--it was reported by radio--few weeks back that this was happening--already.
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NEVER call back and if u do--never give any info out on phone. People should know this by now.. I suggest u report it to higher authorities--your congressman--or congresswoman's office-- the complaints will pile up and they will go after the source of the number.
U can see actually online--where the call originated from-- I did this and reported it-- It WILL b followed up.. Hope this helps.