I got a call from Stephanie, saying if we didn't get $3000 into the "IRS account" by 2:00pm my husband would be arrested and in jail for 12 months with no opportunity for getting out or getting a lawyer. They wanted me to get cash, go to Western Union and call her back. She would then give me instructions on how to send the money in correctly.
Scared me to death. I called the IRS, they said that it is a scam.
I got a real audit letter in the mail from an IRS agent Daniel Robertson. His number listed on the form is from area code 505 and matches the IRS office in NM. He asked me to call him. It already had my social on the letter and details about my 1040 for the year in question as well as papers on "my rights as a taxpayer" I think the scammers are getting real IRS agents names and using them. The real audit process is long and tedious, giving me a few weeks to collect and organize evidence (receipts, spreadsheets, W-2s, 1099s, ect) taken to the IRS office to prove how I itemized deductions on my return. Never have I been asked for some random amount of money to be sent anywhere. That is how an audit really works.