I got the same message as reported by a few folks already; salient points:
- male, accent almost definitely from India; age: 30's to 40's
- claimed his name was Steve Martin, like the actor, and that I owed money to the Treasury
- that this was his second attempt to contact me (first I'd heard of this)
- and that I needed to call back to 323-723-3454 or face a magistrate court or grand jury
He ended with "Please help us to help you".
After quickly realizing how ridiculously stupid was the scam, I then wondered how desperate must someone be to work for whoever is running this operation. Maybe the person who identifies himself as Steve Martin and these other callers got scammed and are trying to earn back the money they lost.
Call from 323-723-3454 told me he was from US Government and I had threats on my identity. He had a thick foreign accent and was not believable as representative of official US Agency, especially since an official agency would never call. Hung up on him, and he called back and left VM. Total scam to phish for identity information and probably account information.
On 8/21/2014 at 10:42I received a call from the # above. Caller had such a heavy accent I did not understand a word he said on my voice mail. the print out of the call on Xfinity made no sense. Saved both and I am contacting my State Attorney Generals Office.
It was 6:00 in the morning on a Saturday. When I happened to be up for this call. It stated."hello my name is Steve Martin, and this is the second attempt to reach you. He stated he was from the Federal Treasury. I was informed I had a Federal criminal offense and there was going to be enforcement action taken if I didn't contact them, I would need to appear before a Majesty judge. It repeated and said that if I didn't return the call, I would have to appear before the judge. The number was 323-521-5052. No amount to was given. I thought if there was a Federal case against me, I would have been Contacted by mail several times prior to a call at 6 am on a Saturday. Thank God for Googule. I put the number and the name in and found many other Steve Martin scams up on this site. Be wise, is my advice is if it doesn't make sense; there is a reason it doesn't make sense. Common sense can go a long way in protecting yourself from these scammers. Also I always use face to face transactions. Never put a check in the mail to anyone. There is a huge hearing impaired scam stating they will send a friend with a money order or certified check. The Check goes In the bank, you think it's all good then your left with repaying the bank for a bad check and you lost what you sold. This one is all over Craigslist. Beware.
Same for me. The caller left a message for me to call back at 213-401-2744. It was reported to the FBI, Federal Trade Commission and when it occurred a second time, 911. Note that reverse phone look up places it in the LA area but it is a VOIP (Voice Over IP Number) with a company called Broadvox Landline in Los Angeles, CA.