Computerized calls from the IRS

[+ purplekow]

Anyone else receiving these calls. I have gotten three today and about 6 in the last week, Computerized voice indicating that the Federal Government will be arresting me within hours unless I respond to this call.

Anyone else receiving these scam phone calls?

[+ sync]

It appears you have been caught in the current wave of these scam calls. They have been happening for quite a while. It's truly alarming how many citizens have been scammed.

[nynakedtop]

yes, for a while i did.... because they are such obviously scam calls, i enjoy playing a little game with the live callers who usually make these calls when i have time and patience.

 

i feign shock and dismay, strike a humble pose, ensure the caller that i apologize for my errors, and ask them for ways in which to remedy the problem. On a good day, I can keep them engaged for quite a while thereby, I hope, saving other good persons from these thieves.

[+ beethoven]

This is a serious problem for the IRS. They get thousands of complaints every week. I know, as I was one of the complainers. Many of the calls come from foreign countries.

[jgoo]

yes, for a while i did.... because they are such obviously scam calls, i enjoy playing a little game with the live callers who usually make these calls when i have time and patience.

 

i feign shock and dismay, strike a humble pose, ensure the caller that i apologize for my errors, and ask them for ways in which to remedy the problem. On a good day, I can keep them engaged for quite a while thereby, I hope, saving other good persons from these thieves.

 

I have done this in the past with email scams...surprisingly very enjoyable and entertaining. Curious as to what they tell you as the ways to remedy the problem. I almost wish I would get such a call as I would love to play with them. Unfortunately I know too many people who get all worked up when getting such calls. Fortunately no one has gotten bitten so far but the emotional impact can't be ignored either.

[+ bashful]

Seems these scammers are capitalizing on the IRS's reputation of conducting business through fear and intimidation. Personally, I've been audited twice, and the interaction was professional and respectful. When I got a 3rd letter in the mail from the IRS, I thought WTF. Audited for a third time. Turns out they were writing to say I may qualify for a deduction I didn't take, and asked me to answer a few questions and mail the letter back. A few months later, I got a check in the mail.

[+ deej]

Just to be clear: the IRS DOES NOT USE PHONE CALLS TO NOTIFY YOU OF ACTION.

 

They'll send a letter through the mail. Period.

[mattr]

I was receiving them for a while but they have stopped. The bizarre thing was they started around the same time I was having issues with the IRS. I had made a mistake on my taxes and was in the process of sorting it out when the calls started.

[Mo Mason]

My boss makes over $100,000 a year and he hasn't filed his taxes since 2011. They don't care too much.

 

They did warn him a few years ago, but it was not by phone. They showed up in person.

[bobchitown]

Just to be clear: the IRS DOES NOT USE PHONE CALLS TO NOTIFY YOU OF ACTION.

 

They'll send a letter through the mail. Period.

 

This. They've said so themselves. They don't call but send a notice.

[sincitymix]

Anyone else receiving these calls. I have gotten three today and about 6 in the last week, Computerized voice indicating that the Federal Government will be arresting me within hours unless I respond to this call.

Anyone else receiving these scam phone calls?

Its fake.

the IRS does not do computerized robocalls.

Ive received a few of them. " You must call your barrister and appear before the magistrate if you don't pay this fine right now." really? since when did the usa get barristers and magistrates?

"We are sending law enforcment. They are on the way to arrest you, if you don't provide us with payment for this fine"

Really? the IRS is sending someone to arrest me? really? Then I shall wait patiently, because the IRS does not send anyone to arrest anyone. they don't do robocalls.. and they certainly don't ask for payment over the phone.

[+ glennnn]

She (the "IRS" lady on the phone) got nasty when I said, "Bullshit" to her demands and she told me the "sheriff" would arrive at my house in 30 minutes to "take everything I owned". I said, " I AM the sheriff". There was a pause and she hung up. Lmao!

[mike carey]

Ive received a few of them. " You must call your barrister and appear before the magistrate if you don't pay this fine right now." really? since when did the usa get barristers and magistrates?

It's remarkable how often these scammers use terms that are common in one Anglophone country but not in the one where the target lives, or have quite different meanings. I didn't have to read past the word 'barrister' to read it as a fake, it's a Commonwealth term. Glennn's example of sheriff is the same. The sort of sheriff his caller referred to is a court official (who in Australia is responsible for seizing property to meet a court order), not a law enforcement officer as a sheriff is in the US.

[rvwnsd]

Years ago I was visiting my family and showed up at my dad's house to take him shopping. He answered the door with the telephone in his hand and motioned me to come in. He proceeded to chat with whoever was on the phone for about ten minutes and then said "Oh, of course. I understand. It was nice chatting with you and thank you so much for calling. I look forward to talking again. Ok, goodbye." Then he hung up the phone.

 

I asked him who he was talking to and he said "I don't know - some telemarketer or something. I just keep them on the phone until they say they have to hang up. Then they don't call back."

[instudiocity]

My boss makes over $100,000 a year and he hasn't filed his taxes since 2011. They don't care too much.

 

They did warn him a few years ago, but it was not by phone. They showed up in person.

They WILL show up with one-size fits most bracelets if he's under-withholding. If his withholding is equal to the tax after standard deductions, they will just keep his refund.

[+ azdr0710]

[+ Charlie]

I just got my first one yesterday, and since I didn't pick up the phone, they left a recorded message, which is rather unusual for a robocall. However, I already knew about the scam, so I simply ignored it.

[+ Keith30309]

My boss makes over $100,000 a year and he hasn't filed his taxes since 2011. They don't care too much.

 

They did warn him a few years ago, but it was not by phone. They showed up in person.

I know of a married couple who flagrantly evaded payment of taxes for years. He was a very cocky medical professional and had pretty significant income (expensive cars, airplane, beach house, etc.). I'm not sure how it took the IRS so long to find them but when they did they pursued them with a vengeance worthy of Keyser Söze, seizing and freezing everything they had (and justly so). I recall one story of the wife, who was a fake-bake bottle-blonde, being pulled over on the highway by law enforcement and being left standing on the side of the road as her Jaguar was towed away. The last I heard they were living in poverty in a small apartment.

[azhiker]

If I have time to play with them, I ask the caller to call me back on my "wife's" phone because my battery is dying. I then give them the police department phone number and hang up. Also works for the "Microsoft" people who say there is a problem with your computer. For the credit card people, sometimes I keep them on the line and ask them what address to send my credit card info to because I won't give it out over the phone. Stumps them when they can't provide an address. "You don't know where you are?" LOL

[Kenny]

My boss makes over $100,000 a year and he hasn't filed his taxes since 2011. They don't care too much.

 

They did warn him a few years ago, but it was not by phone. They showed up in person.

That's why conservatives keep cutting the IRS budget. Reduce oversight, stress the system, bust it up.

 

Meanwhile, I hope your boss gets busted. He's the worst kind of welfare cheat, living off my dime (and of course yours).

[nynakedtop]

On the other hand...

 

I fully also realize that many/most/all of the callers are situated in a less developed nation than our own, and are probably "forced" (by their own economic conditions if not by actual physical force) to work in these boiler rooms, likely for some pretty unsavory characters and one can be certain under horrible conditions and for little or no real pay. Something tells me that given a choice, the callers would rather be doing something other than making these calls and being tormented by either/both their bosses and victims.

 

Angry and insulted as I may be by these callers I need to keep that in mind as well.

[Kenny]

On the other hand...

 

I fully also realize that many/most/all of the callers are situated in a less developed nation than our own, and are probably "forced" (by their own economic conditions if not by actual physical force) to work in these boiler rooms, likely for some pretty unsavory characters and one can be certain under horrible conditions and for little or no real pay. Something tells me that given a choice, the callers would rather be doing something other than making these calls and being tormented by either/both their bosses and victims.

 

Angry and insulted as I may be by these callers I need to keep that in mind as well.

Agreed. I just hang up and add their numbers to the phone's (lengthy) blocked call list.

[MikeBiDude]

If I have time to play with them, I ask the caller to call me back on my "wife's" phone because my battery is dying. I then give them the police department phone number and hang up. Also works for the "Microsoft" people who say there is a problem with your computer. For the credit card people, sometimes I keep them on the line and ask them what address to send my credit card info to because I won't give it out over the phone. Stumps them when they can't provide an address. "You don't know where you are?" LOL

Ugh those "Microsoft people..." Prey on people like my 84 year old mother...irritating. I called the return number once to give them a piece of my mind, and the scammer had the balls to tell me I was wasting HIS time, lol!!

[marylander1940]

Anyone else receiving these calls. I have gotten three today and about 6 in the last week, Computerized voice indicating that the Federal Government will be arresting me within hours unless I respond to this call.

Anyone else receiving these scam phone calls?

 

Sounds like a Nigerian scam.

 

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/510/839/6ff.jpg

[sincitymix]

If I have time to play with them, I ask the caller to call me back on my "wife's" phone because my battery is dying. I then give them the police department phone number and hang up. Also works for the "Microsoft" people who say there is a problem with your computer. For the credit card people, sometimes I keep them on the line and ask them what address to send my credit card info to because I won't give it out over the phone. Stumps them when they can't provide an address. "You don't know where you are?" LOL

lol that's one I haven't had in awhile.

we are calling from Microsoft. we have detected a problem with your computer and require remote access. will you give us permission? "You detected a problem?" Yes. "That's interesting. the computer isn't even turned on." *They hang up*