Michael Edwards called for my husband on 7/25 but he wasn't available. Took down his number & said he'd call him back the following week. Michael immediately called back, threatened arrest, etc., if hubby didn't call immediately. The police confirmed it was a scam and that I was approx. the 50th person to call them - in a very small town, mind you. Another call from Michael on 7/28 but I did all the talking this time. Told him I was aware of the scam and what he should do with his threats. He hung up, never called back.
SCAM. The caller said he was with the IRS department of legal affairs and was calling about an "important matter." He would not give the phone number and when I asked to speak with supervisor he said if I did not return the call, I would be arrested. SCAM!
>>> I'm thankful for Google and the ability to track these ridiculous scam numbers <<<
Google does no such thing. All they do is blindly index web sites. The people here at 800notes.com are the ones who actually do the work tracking scam numbers.
These calls are not coming from the IRS or anywhere else in the US government.
They are coming from cowardly criminals hiding behind a magicJack device plugged in at some God-forsaken corner of the world where there is Internet service. They simply use a magicJack device and try to use your fear of the IRS and the federal government the same way a common thief uses a toy pistol hidden in the pocket of his overcoat to make a bulge that looks like a real gun.
You can verify that this is a magicJack number by searching for it at http://www.phonevalidator.com .
The IRS phone scam, in particular, has been extensively researched at
http://www.pindropsecurity.com/consumer-fraud ... irs-phone-scam/ and it was found that magicJack numbers are frequently used, and many of the scammers are operating out of India. There is even an audio recording of a call returned to one of these numbers and a written transcript of the recording contained in links from the Pindrop Security blog.
More recently, there has actually been a widespread resurgence of the IRS scam across multiple states, including California, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. Additionally, USTelecom, a trade association, warned consumers about an increase in Caller ID spoofing. See:
http://www.pindropsecurity.com/july-18-2014-the-week-in-phone-fraud/
MagicJacks are readily obtainable outside of the United States for about $100 US and can come with up to a year of free calling to the U.S. and Canada as well as a free US-based phone number. In India, see, for example,
http://magicjack.in .
If the scammer wants to make the call look as though it comes from the IRS or the federal government, he will choose a 202 (Washington, DC) area code number assigned by YMAX Corporation. If the scammer is ignorant, he will choose a 206 (Washington State) area code telephone number because he won't know the difference between the seat of the federal government and the state of Washington -- they both are "Washington," right? Sometimes they will choose an entirely different area code for reasons known only to the scammer.
It doesn't take long to turn a profit on scams such as this even if only 1 or 2% of the people they call are fooled into sending a few thousand dollars to the scammers.
Here's a recent example of an IRS phone scam that was stopped by an alert clerk, and some advise from the South San Francisco, CA police about these scams:
http://pacifica.patch.com/groups/police-and-f ... -francisco53309
And here's yet another instance in Florida of this type of scam coming from India using US telephone numbers:
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/25971726/phone-sca ... ey#.U8GKEGK9KSM
In addition to the regular reporting channels, e.g., the Department of the Treasury, the FTC, and/or your local state attorney general's office, you might also report the abuse to YMAX Corp. This corporation is a fully-owned subsidiary of the company that sells magicJacks and is in charge of assigning telephone numbers to magicJack devices. I have seen reports that they are pretty good at responding to complaints and may be able to permanently shut off a magicJack device, if necessary, so that it can never be used again.
The YMAX Corp. main web page is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com
and their site giving information on how to lodge a complaint is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com/contact.html
Note that the "contact" website for YMAX Corporation gives a clickable link to a "live chat" where you can make your complaint.
My daughter took a phone message for me and this number was listed as the call back number. He gave his name as Roy Jackson and said he was from the Legal Affairs Dept. she said he had a heavy accent and pronounced my name strangely. I suspected it was not legitimate but I called the number anyway and got an answering machine with a recording by a foreign female stating it was the Dept of Legal Affairs of the US Treasurey and to leave a message.