Phone scam

[Sunny]

I just came home to find a voice mail message supposedly from the IRS, telling me that I owe back taxes (I don't, of course) and if I don't get in touch with them within 24 hours, they are sending
"the cops" to my house to arrest me. Hard to believe that anyone is naive enough to believe this kind of stuff, but it must work, otherwise they wouldn't do it.

I reported them to Do Not Call, but isn't this a serious federal offense? Should the police be notified?

 

[Don M.]

There are so many of these phone scams that the government can't keep up with them. This IRS scam, and the "Grandson had an accident, and needs money" are two of the most frequent currently going around. Perhaps the most dangerous one is where the caller asks if you are (your name), and you answer Yes. They are recording your "Yes" response, and can use that to make purchases in your name, over the phone. The best policy is to check your caller ID before you pick up the phone, and if it's a number you don't recognize, just let it ring. If it is a legitimate call, they will begin to leave a message, at which point, you can decide if you want to answer.

 

[chic]

There are so many of these phone scams that the government can't keep up with them. This IRS scam, and the "Grandson had an accident, and needs money" are two of the most frequent currently going around. Perhaps the most dangerous one is where the caller asks if you are (your name), and you answer Yes. They are recording your "Yes" response, and can use that to make purchases in your name, over the phone. The best policy is to check your caller ID before you pick up the phone, and if it's a number you don't recognize, just let it ring. If it is a legitimate call, they will begin to leave a message, at which point, you can decide if you want to answer.

I agree. I never even answer if I don't recognize the phone number.

 

[Kadee]

We have been getting the same one here in Australia for the past year or so ..claiming they are from the taxation department ...we don't have a message service ,I hang up as soon as they start talking as there is always a delay before they talk so you know it's scammers

 

[Sunny]

I did some googling and found that there is actually an IRS number specifically to report these scams. I called them and got a message saying that they have more calls than they are able to deal with, but
I should go to their web site, which is TITGA.gov to report it. So I did that.