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.
I got the same call, from Peter Martin saying (with an accent) he was making a second contact with me to demand appearance in front of a magistrate or a grand jury for some IRS enforcement action. I have no outstanding liabilities much less IRS issues. Has to be a fraud - I did not return the call.
Ditto all---"Second notice---federal charges pending - if immediate action is not taken federal agents will arrest me within 30 minutes." And they knew my address, though I did not admit to even my name OR address. I did call them back (on the same line since they had that number already) and tell them that it is a federal offense to impersonate a Treasury officer, and BTW---don't have a guy with a thick Pakistani accent call to scam people...dolts. Not that Pakistani's cannot work for a federal bureau, but he was just stupid and could barely speak...hardly agent material. He said his name was "Steve Martin."---OMG...hahahaha...you kidding me? These pathetic individuals need to be hung by their thumbs, scamming people for a living...please...but they won't be as they are likely overseas and beyond jurisdiction.