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.
listen carefully, IRS would not call you for collect money but mail you a letter. if not then it is a scam criminal.
I got a voice mail from Julie smith IRS Investigation department , said I Must call back before She take action against me.
I called back, a heavy Indian accent man said " I am federal officer of IRS Investigation dept. Someone is going to get a lawsuit against you for your IRS income calculation difference within 2007-2009 and the investigation is within 2007-2011, thus the total you owe IRS is $4136 , " I said for my 2007-2009 stock market investment loss, IRS already completed an investigation to me in 2010 and agreed with me with my evidence I advised. . actually before the 2010 investigation for 2007-2009 my long term capital loss cary over was 10k , after the investigation IRS said I owe no money to IRS and my loss became 19k. I thanked IRS for that investigation. He heard this and shocked for a while.sounds he did not know. The real IRS just mailed me in paper to be filled up and mail them back and let them keep going investigation to prove I do not owe the money.. not like the Indian accent man asked me to cash my debit card and buy vouchers from the Pathmark and give him the pin number. and said after he got my pin number he then is goning to give me confirmation number. and I hv to go on line to IRS web site to get confirmation number. Is this a federal IRS federal officer's working way? pay IRS not thru bank but thru supermark? sounds like a fraud case scam. but the telephone number is real .I said I am going to go to local IRS office to prove what he said I owed money to IRS is real. He said don't get to your local IRS office we are center, they don't know. now who is real? the phone number? or the Indian accent man?