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 received a call on 3/24/2015 from a person named Kevin Smith claiming that he was calling from the audit dept. of the IRS. We asked for his phone number in order to call him back. The phone number was 703 828 0434. When we called back the was no answer. I understand that there is a current scam relating to the IRS and it appears that this may be part of that scam.
Left two messages on 3/24/15. Claimed to be with the IRS. Contacting us regarding fraudulent or overdue taxes. (?). They tried delivering multiple certified letters but were unsuccessful. (?). I knew from those 2 statements alone this was a scam.
Someone at this number called and said they were from the IRS and wanted to know if I had legal representation as I was being sued by the IRS. He had a thick Middle Eastern accent and when I asked him to repeat what he said a few times he got very irritated and said that he was not going to keep repeating himself and that he was speaking plain English. When I said that no representative of the IRS would speak to someone that way he hung up on me. Fortunately I did not give him any information.