IRS SCAM - Public Service Message!
I consider myself pretty wise when it comes to scams, but this one was good. I have since found out that many college kids have been hit with this particular scam.
I got a very concerned call from our daughter saying she had a voicemail from someone with the IRS stating she was being sued for fraud and to get an attorney. I explained to her that it was most likely a scam and I would take care of it.
When I called the number I got a very official greeting from Officer Roy with the IRS - and he sounded like he was in a call center. This caught me off guard. He also had a lot of details about "me pretending to be Danielle". It scared the heck out of me. Thinking back there were more clues that this was not a legit call - but I was in panicked parent mode.
He finally said that she was being arrested!!! At this point, I hung up on the guy. Now I think the call would have ended with him asking for a credit card to clear her supposed $500.00 bill. This has been a big money maker for these scammers.
After our panic settled down and we collected our thoughts we found the phone number starting with: 773-536-13.. to be on the list of SCAM numbers. Another call came in under a second number which we could not locate. We contacted the Minnesota Attorney General's office and was told this falls under FBI but these reports go nowhere because they are so common, the numbers go out of service as soon as they go up, and they are typically placed outside the US.
https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsro...
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UPDATE! I forgot that detail. The guy said they sent two warning letters and he even gave me dates and the address they were sent to and accused me "posing as my daughter" of ignoring them.
Officer Roy has continued to leave messages for my daughter. Told my daughter to get an air horn and call them back and blow the horn. BUT... I called them like 7-8 times today posing as my daughter and kept saying to discontinued calling because I have reported them to the Attorney General and we have a trace on their phone number through the FBI. So far no more calls!
right!! the guy said they sent two warning letters and he even gave me dates and the address they were sent to and accused me "posing as my daughter" of ignoring them. HA!!
Yes. They'll say the attorney general is sending a team to arrest you. Anything to generate a panic Michelle!
I get these calls several times a week. When it is not them, it is the guy (usually with a fairly thick Indian accent) tell me there is something wrong with my computer....
The most recent one is "Molly" who tells me that my Apple icloud account has been hacked and none of my apple products are safe. (I don't have any Apple products!)
That happened 2 me a few months ago when i went 2 the police deparment they said just ignore them lolol but it did got me scared
As a former tax practitioner, I can tell you the IRS will not call. They send letters. The letters include instructions, taxpayer bill of rights, and other information. It is all formally documented so they will not call with threats of jail, lawsuits, etc.
However, the IRS is currently looking at the possibility of using debt collectors to collect overdue taxes.But this is still being reviewed and is probably years away.
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Yes, I got one of those calls also, and was suspicious right away because, 1) you will never be notified that you are being sued by phone and 2) the IRS NEVER calls you to let you know there is a problem, much less to say they are suing you. I understand they also target new immigrants as well. Thanks for sharing.