These are criminal extortionists operating in overseas boiler rooms using VOIP to alter their identities and locations and out of the reach of US law enforcement.
If someone calls saying he's an IRS agent and demands that you send money immediately, hang up.
It's a phone scam.In fact, it tops the IRS "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams this year, and it's been surging in recent months, the agency said Thursday.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which oversees the IRS, has received reports of 290,000 scam calls since October 2013 and said nearly 3,000 victims have been swindled out of $14 million so far.
By altering their caller ID number to make it look like they're calling from an IRS office, these scammers often threaten vulnerable people like the elderly and new immigrants with things like arrest, deportation or the loss of their driver's license if they don't pay immediately for money purportedly owed.
Often leaving messages that say it's "urgent" you call them back, the scammers use common names and sometimes say they are from the IRS Criminal Division. They may even claim to know the last four digits of your Social Security number and send follow-up emails that appear to be from the IRS, TIGTA said.
They often demand that payments be made by prepaid debit card.
Once they make their threats, the scammers have been known to call back and again disguise their caller ID so it appears they are calling from the police department or the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Or sometimes when they call, they may say you have a refund due and ask you to provide personal information so you can claim it.
The real IRS will usually contact you by regular mail first, if it needs to contact you at all. And the agency never demands immediate payment by phone or asks for credit card or debit numbers if they do call. It also never asks for personal or financial information by email, text or social media.
If you get what you suspect is a scam call, report it to TIGTA through its Web site or call 800-366-4484.
Got a call from this number saying that they are from Justice Department and If I dont call back they will get me arrested. Even though I knew it's a scam call, I called back just to check. As I doubted, some sort of scamming company. Some guy picked up the phone and identified him just as Daniel Smith. There was no depatment of Justice greeting or even identification. I told him that I got a call from this number. He said give me your address and I will look into it. I then asked him to give his office address so I can report it to FBI. He said he does not give personnel information. I asked again that I need the address of the office where he is calling from. He would not give me the address. Since he could barely speak english and from his accent you can tell he is from south Asia. He finally kept the phone. It's some sort of scam. Not sure what is about. Be careful before you give them any info and call them from a blocked number.
just got the same call from the same guy and it's a scam do not even try to call back they try to get any information about you as full name, address, and tax id # so don' give any information to any one
Received two calls back to back from this number, left no voicemails. When I called back (from a different number) the call was answered by "Officer Wilson" who said something about law enforcement and asked for my phone number. I devlined to give it to him and asked which agency he was with. He said, "Internal Revenue Service." I told him I would contact the local office.
I got call from this no. saying officer Shannon Williams from Justice Dept. She asked me to call back otherwise I will be arresred! I knew it is a scam so did not call her back.