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.
Same here, the thick accent gave it away.... the number they left on my machine was 323-723-3678 "help us help you".... What a waste of time and resources!, must get enough people to fall for it though which makes me sad for the victims and so angry with these scammers.
I actually think that this is a more organized effort with an up-front investment that has contracted telemarketing service providers abroad, and maybe not an individual oversees hacking Facebook. Our information is so easy to sell! Plus telemarketing labor is cheap overseas. Either way, this sort of stalking just makes me mad.
Aug 26 6:20 pm.... 232723-3678... SCAM! US treasury only contacts you by Mail first.
I will report this... Hope everyone else does too! Seeing all the other postings about this
Was helpful!
323-723-3678 Scam.
Message left on my answering machine at 6:20pm Threatened that I would have a 2nd offense if I did not return call. I called back ( at the same time wondering why a government agency would be working after hours.) and I
was sent to a VM requesting me to leave my name and number.
I know I do not owe taxes! Went on line to US treasury official site that warned against such scams.
Thank you to everyone who posted ..... It was helpful.