I received a phone call from this number both yesterday and today. Told them I was in the hospital. They are calling me to let me know my boyfriend has a legal case against him and to call back Office David Chambers in regards to this as soon as possible. What a hoax! The thing that baffles me is how did they get his name attached to my cell phone number? This was a thick Indian accented voice on this call. Before this, I got calls two days in a row from another number asking for him saying that his Dell computer has malware on it and was I sitting in front of his computer at the time. This came from a different number with another thick Indian accented voice. That number was 404-777-4567 which I called back and "This is a nonworking number"
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.
I just received the same message from this man supposedly from the US Treasury. Could barely understand him. Could have been his first call too. But he ended by saying to call immediately and if I didn't he wished me the best of luck.
got a a call about an hour ago. IRS rep i owed money to be paid in 45 min or i would be arrested, wages garnish, house taken, car taken, drivers license taken and other things. Had a good scam going until i made them mad, IRS rep would not get mad they would come get you. Sorry humans to do that to old people.
I received a call from this number indicating it was Kara Johnson from the Department of the Treasury. I had better call back this week or have my attorney call or "God help you"... With her thick apparently Indian accent and two previous calls with botched names and messages, this smells and tastes scam all the way. A telephone phishing. I will and suggest others report this to the authorities as fraud.