Scammer.....automated message threatening lawsuit by the IRS. The actual IRS would never do this kind of call....never. This is just so sad. I deal with elderly people daily......it is sad that they receive these type of BS calls and believe them!
Got a call from this number on my cell phone. I didn't pick up. Called back from my office number. A person with a foreign accent answered and said "Internal Revenue Service" He called himself an officer. Complete baloney!! The IRS doesn't call people. And I don't owe them any money anyway.
I have been getting a ridiculous amount of calls. I don't answer, block that number - and in a few days it will be from another state. I don't know how to make them stop calling me! This particular message was a automated machine stating to call "the official department number back." Last summer - not realizing it was a scam, I returned the call from my office phone and when they learned I was on a land line, they hung up on me.
Modern technology has given telespammers the tools to call you.
Lawbreaking telescammers ignore both the Do Not Call list and any request you might make.
Modern technology can also protect you, if YOU do a few simple things!
The most effective thing to do is to get a call blocking device, service or app.
Then, use it correctly.
Google "call blocker" for more information. There are available apps (some free) for smart phones, and services and devices for landlines. Remember, the Do Not Call List is NOT a call blocker!
If you cannot use or afford such a tool, then click on the "Info" button, below, for alternate options (Javascript Required):
Info • Do not answer calls from unknown numbers ... let them go to voicemail or answering service. Telespammers usually hang up after 3 or 4 rings.
• Do NOT return calls from unknown numbers! All that does is verify your phone number, and make it more valuable to more spam groups! And, in some cases, those return calls may cost $20 or more to complete. If the incoming call was important, they would have left a message!
• If you have a "dumb" cell phone, assign the scammer's number to a group named "scam" (or similar). Then, assign a silent ringtone to that group. (This also works for smartphones). The spammer will usually hang up before the phone goes to voicemail.
• Another option, for cell phones: Assign a "silent ringtone" as DEFAULT. Then, assign your favorite ringtones to all known friends / family / business numbers. That way, you will hear rings ONLY from those you wish to contact! You will not hear scammers' rings, even if they change their number! (This is also called "whitelisting", and will cause you to miss calls from non-whitelisted numbers).
If you want to report potential fraudulent or scam calls, here are two pages of links to (mostly government) sites in Canada and the USA were you can report those scams, or learn more about them.
Look here first:
http://800notes.com/arts/I2neMkbUAAo/where-to-report-phone-crime
If the reporting site you wanted is not in the above list, try this one:
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/complaint_sites.html
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Please reply to this post, to let us know you read it, or have taken suitable actions to protect yourself.
Just remember that the IRS would never 'file a lawsuit' against you........they'd just inform you that they're going to screw you over once again. If it's actually the IRS you're dealing with, they would contact you by surface mail and/or someone knocking at your door. *Never answer any phone call if you don't recognize the name or number on your Caller ID. Let it ring, and they'll try the scam on someone else.
Recorded message: Hello, we have been trying to contact you. This is the IRS, we are taking legal action against you, blah blah blah please call 202-766-6243. I think in the 40 years I've been filing I only paid in to the IRS once and it was minimal. Reporting number to the IRS