I received a voicemail from a person by the name of "Danny Archer" from the Department of Treasury. He was calling about an "enforcement action" that I was to appear before a magistrate. Person used a threatening tone indicating I owed money. Obviously a bogus call but for someone not familiar with these calls they may call this person back and give them money. Please be aware that the Department of Treasury/IRS will not call or email you, they will send a letter!! I have heard countless stories of people using "Green Dot" prepaid cards and sending the information over to the scammers.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Repeats-Warning-about-Phone-Scams.
Please be safe and do not fall for these scams. We work hard enough for our money.
Total scam. Originates in either India or Pakistan. Block and ignore. DO NOT RETURN THE CALL!
See: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam
I’m an Enrolled Agent with the IRS (Inactive). IRS does not initiate contacts by phone. US mail only. IRS does not file lawsuits. Court action, if any is handled by the DOJ and all parties are entitled to legal assistance if it is a criminal matter. But--tax disputes are for the most part civil matters. 90% of all IRS tax disputes are settled administratively. IRS has absolutely no authority to call on local law enforcement for anything. Local law is never involved in IRS tax disputes. IRS does not threaten to involve local law enforcement or to arrest you for nonpayment of federal taxes. IRS has no powers of arrest. If LE is necessary, US Marshals do the job. IRS does not cold call anyone and demand immediate payment of money. IRS does not ask for financial information over the phone. IRS does not accept Green card money paks for payment in any case. No one is prosecuted for ordinary tax disputes. IRS has absolutely no authority over anyone's professional license. Professional licensing is handled by state governments. Yes, levies on property to satisfy an existing tax obligation do occur, but only after a very long period of negotiation. And yes, liens are placed on individuals but usually after a lot of negotiation and a failure to reach a settlement. All determinations of tax liability are subject to appeals. All contacts by the IRS are initiated by US mail.
.
This is the recording I received to my cell phone which is also my business phone:
"This is regards to an enforcement action by the US Treasury intending your serious attention. Ignoring this will be an additional second attempt to avoid initial appearance before a magistrate judge or the grand jury for a federal criminal offense. I advise you to cooperate with us and help us to help you. Thank you and have a blessed day.”
I returned the call. I was suspicious right away because of the "Thank you and have a blessed day” end to the voicemail. That didn’t seem very IRS like. A woman with an East Indian accent answered and told me the call would be recorded for quality and that anything I said would go on record. I was suspicious again because I can’t even get a human to answer directly when I call Home Depot. There’s always walls of menu options and recorded voices to reach a human these days.
I explained that I had received a voicemail and that I didn’t understand what it was about. She asked if this was Mary and I said yes. She proceeded to tell me that I needed to go downtown and turn myself in for tax fraud because my 2012 and 2013 returns weren’t filed correctly and I owed more money.
I said “I’m sorry, I still just don’t understand, I haven’t ever heard of this before. Can you please explain it to me again? She said the same thing again only this time added that I could choose to hire a criminal attorney, pay up to $17,000 in court fees and if I lose end up in a "big legal mess.”
Strike 3, an IRS rep wouldn’t use this phrasing.
I said “I need to call my accountant because this just doesn’t make sense and I don’t see how there could be any problems with my filed returns. She interrupted “You don’t need to call your accountant! Your accountant isn't the one that’ll be behind bars!” I replied, “Wait I can be arrested??!?!!” She said “Yeeeeeessssssss you WILL be arrested if you do not go downtown right now and turn yourself in or take care of this.” (That didn’t make any sense) Again I said, “I need to call my accountant and I guess a lawyer."
At this point I have forgotten most of what she said because it was so fast and aggressive that I think I shut down and freaked out a little. Yet I also knew that IRS people wouldn’t threaten and bully in this manner. She threatened that all my assets would be seized for up to three months while in trial, that I could risk losing everything and more…
I then walked over to my computer and started taking notes. I said “Look you don’t need to be mean about this. I have never heard of any of this and…” She cut me off again and went off again so I said “You know what? I think we’re having a cultural difficulty here. She said “This call is being recorded!” I said “Yes, I’m aware and I haven’t said anything I’m ashamed of. I need to speak with your supervisor please, you and I are not well matched here.” With some smart [***] tone she informed me that she was also the supervisor. She kept rambling, I felt suspicious, and now I wanted more information. “If you’re the supervisor then you need to answer my questions without interrupting me every time I speak. (I stopped counting how many strikes/red flags we were up to now)
So I asked “Why haven’t I received anything in the mail?” She said that a CP503 PUBLIC NOTICE was sent out in June and again at the end of June. I explained that I have received mail in the past without any difficulty but I hadn’t received this. I don’t remember if I asked how much was due or if she offered but what I do remember is my reaction. “$1,298" I said “You are bullying me over $1,298??????!!!!!!!!”
With her nasty attitude she explained that it didn’t matter if it was $1,000 or $10,000, I am facing criminal charges and I can either take care of it, she will mail me forms, or I can get arrested and hire a criminal attorney. Now I’m certain it’s a scam. (Reading this you might be wondering why I didn’t know it was a scam sooner. I am a person that is a wee bit intimidated by IRS, DMV type institutions - the result of growing up homeless and afraid)
Armed with my 90% certainty that I was being punked I asked “Ok which address do I mail my check to?” She replied with MY old work address. Clearly she didn’t understand me. I said, “That is a very old business address for me, I have never received any tax documents there so how did you get that address?” CLICK
Oh HELLLLLL no. So, I called back. Instead of terrified now I was pissed. I wanted to play along and get more intel on this scam. I was disconnected when I called. I called again, no one said anything so I said “Hello” a few times. She finally said “Hello?” and I said “Ok I called my lawyer…” and she replied “You called your lawyer? Ok the cops are on their way!” and hung up again. I’ve since been blocked from calling.
My boyfriend sent me this link: http://www.419eater.com
I HOPE sharing my story helps someone because that was a terrible experience!!!! I cannot imagine what it would be like for someone that’s more fragile - they could seriously go off or jump off a bridge with how scary she was!
Anyway, an intense and interesting 11 minutes. Pass the word!
Mary, thank you for your thorough report of this scam; we were a sample of fragile elderly people hit with the call today and believing it with the exception of the man hanging up on my husband. That gave us some hope that it was a scam, but we were not sure because he said that we would receive a packet in the mail. (also for 2012-13 taxes) Now, we can relax and enjoy the holiday weekend after reading others' experience. Thank God!
Total scam. Originates in either India or Pakistan. Block and ignore. DO NOT RETURN THE CALL!
See: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam
I’m an Enrolled Agent with the IRS (Inactive). IRS does not initiate contacts by phone. US mail only. IRS does not file lawsuits. Court action, if any is handled by the DOJ and all parties are entitled to legal assistance if it is a criminal matter. But--tax disputes are for the most part civil matters. 90% of all IRS tax disputes are settled administratively. IRS has absolutely no authority to call on local law enforcement for anything. Local law is never involved in IRS tax disputes. IRS does not threaten to involve local law enforcement or to arrest you for nonpayment of federal taxes. IRS has no powers of arrest. If LE is necessary, US Marshals do the job. IRS does not cold call anyone and demand immediate payment of money. IRS does not ask for financial information over the phone. IRS does not accept Green card money paks for payment in any case. No one is prosecuted for ordinary tax disputes. IRS has absolutely no authority over anyone's professional license. Professional licensing is handled by state governments. Yes, levies on property to satisfy an existing tax obligation do occur, but only after a very long period of negotiation. And yes, liens are placed on individuals but usually after a lot of negotiation and a failure to reach a settlement. All determinations of tax liability are subject to appeals. All contacts by the IRS are initiated by US mail.
.