IRS Law Suit

[Brdofpray]

Just learned today that the IRS has filed a suit against me.

I was contacted on my cell phone. The initial phone ID was from Russia. I let it go to message. I was surprised that they left a message (a recording), directing me to call a number in Charlotte, NC. where they would be more than happy to help me with the suit.

Seriously, how often do these scams work? Then I think of my 90 year old mother, and what she might do if she answered this call.

Has any one else experienced this? Is this something I should report? To whom?

Thanks for the input.

 

[MichaelB]

A scam, by any other name, would smell as bad ..

Life is too short to waste time with this. Thanks for sharing, I say move on and forget it.

 

[youbet]

FYI. This is an old one. I've gotten that call a dozen or more times over the past few months. I keep hoping they'll get cancer and die a painful death but, so far, the phone keeps ringing.

 

[gauss]

The beauty of voicemail...


Ironic though that the IRS does not need to sue you in any court to initiate collections - they have the power to levy/seize/garnish directly.

 

[hnzw_rui]

A taste of their own medicine:

I got the same threatening IRS call (they left voicemail with call back number. SO, I called them back and when they answered as "so and so with the IRS, I replied, "Yes, this is Special Agent Jim ***** with the FBI, are you reporting a fraudulent IRS scam call?" They hung up.

I called back 5 times before they left the phone off the hook.

Yeah, I had nothing better to do... LOL

 

[Sunset]

I have a relative in a retirement home, the "tax folks" called and left a message saying to call back or they would sue, and that perhaps a lawyer was needed as well.

It of course was a scam, but my relative was actually nervous and worried and might have returned the call except I was there to explain the scam, and that the tax folks never call, they send letters requesting proof, etc.

 

[easysurfer]

These scammers have no morals whatsoever.

... I really like my call blocker.

 

[scrabbler1]

As tempting it is to string these scammers along, I hate even more just being on the phone with anyone I don't want to talk to. I just yell back, "no no no, you're a SCAMMER!" and hang up.

 

[Nodak]

Install the "Mr Number" app on your cell phone. It does an excellent job of blocking scam calls.

 

[omni550]

Has any one else experienced this? Is this something I should report? To whom?

Thanks for the input.

The FTC has a site where to report these types of scams...https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

I have reported several calls that I have received. I hope others do the same, to let the FTC know the scope of this problem.

omni

 

[ERD50]

The FTC has a site where to report these types of scams...https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

I have reported several calls that I have received. I hope others do the same, to let the FTC know the scope of this problem.

omni

If it makes you feel better fine.

But in reality, look at any of the many websites that have people report the scammers - the FTC gets thousands of these complaints, and they rarely ever do anything, and the ones they do track down have their funds arranged such that they never can even pay the slap-on-the-wrist $10,000 fine.

The FTC made a big deal about nabbing 'Rachel' - did she go away? No, they just pop up under a different business name.

If they use a real number, (many are using rotating local Caller IDs to fool the blockers), I enter them into my VOIP 'rules' and forward them to the FTC.

-ERD50

 

[Chris7]

Sometimes I play along. The other fun one is the IT support folks calling about a virus. At least as long as I am able to keep them on the phone, they are unable to call and try to scam others. :O)

 

[youbet]

Sometimes I play along. The other fun one is the IT support folks calling about a virus. At least as long as I am able to keep them on the phone, they are unable to call and try to scam others. :O)

I generally don't bother to do this, but I appreciate others who are willing to invest the time to keep the jerks occupied for a few mins. At least it's a few mins that one of them isn't hassling me! Give 'em hell Chris7!

 

[sengsational]

Before I got my Sentry box, someone "from the IRS" sounding pretty official left a message. There was no "call to action"*, though, so I was left wondering. It turns out the answering machine cut-off what I was supposed to do.

If you want a laugh, search "Jolly Roger Telephone Company" on youtube or NPR.

* I was employed doing IT in a direct marketing department for a while...that's what they call what they want you to do...."call to action"

 

[gauss]

If it makes you feel better fine.

But in reality, look at any of the many websites that have people report the scammers - the FTC gets thousands of these complaints, and they rarely ever do anything, and the ones they do track down have their funds arranged such that they never can even pay the slap-on-the-wrist $10,000 fine.

The FTC made a big deal about nabbing 'Rachel' - did she go away? No, they just pop up under a different business name.

If they use a real number, (many are using rotating local Caller IDs to fool the blockers), I enter them into my VOIP 'rules' and forward them to the FTC.

-ERD50

To omni's point I think the idea about reporting them was to create a record that document's the scope of the problem that may suggest the need for more resources/laws to fight it -- not to catch the individual under today's laws.

 

[audreyh1]

The FTC has a site where to report these types of scams...https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

I have reported several calls that I have received. I hope others do the same, to let the FTC know the scope of this problem.

omni

I appreciate the link and I may start reporting the calls as well.

 

[ERD50]

To omni's point I think the idea about reporting them was to create a record that document's the scope of the problem that may suggest the need for more resources/laws to fight it -- not to catch the individual under today's laws.

Well, maybe. But I do think that is tilting at windmills. Just do some reading on the subject.

-ERD50

 

[rayinpenn]

We've gotten to be big users of caller id...if we don't know the number we simply don't answer
I figure Anything important they will leave a message...

Chances are they want money or to scam.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[jdmorton]

We've received 3 of these calls on our answering machine. What's pretty funny is who they claim they are ("This is so-and-so" representing...):


1. The first call was from 'Dennis Quaid' (the actor)
2. The second call was from 'Robert Morris' (the name of a local university and one of Pennsylvania's signers of the Declaration of Independence)
3. The third call was from 'Steve Martin' (the comedian)


They must have run out of names as we haven't received a call in a couple of weeks now.

 

[gregzx]

Until last month, I received calls from those phone scammers at least once a week. I remember the last time they called me, they used 314 area code. I Googled the number, and found that some people have reported the number. I think it's better if you block the number if possible, and report it to FTC.

 

[gauss]

We've received 3 of these calls on our answering machine. What's pretty funny is who they claim they are ("This is so-and-so" representing...):


1. The first call was from 'Dennis Quaid' (the actor)
2. The second call was from 'Robert Morris' (the name of a local university and one of Pennsylvania's signers of the Declaration of Independence)
3. The third call was from 'Steve Martin' (the comedian)


They must have run out of names as we haven't received a call in a couple of weeks now.

Ha Ha - I think that I too received a "Wild & Crazy" call from "Steve Martin" advising me of my IRS "deficiency" and steps to resolve involving prepaid cash cards.

 

[audreyh1]

Current IRS Tax Scams Consumer Alert

Since it's tax season, it might be good to know about the recent tax scams going on. The IRS has a summary on their page: Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts

W-2 Scam Targeting Payroll and Human Resources Professionals

Whoops - Seagate got burned on this one recently as reported by KrebsonSecurity Seagate Phish Exposes All Employee W-2’s

in other words, private companies get scammed too.

E-mail, Phishing and Malware Schemes

We got a friendly email from the "IRS" February of last year asking us to log into our account - link provided.

IRS-Impersonation Telephone Scam

I think several here have reported getting threatening phone calls from the IRS about dire consequences if they didn't pay some tax bill immediately.

And there are a few more.

Of course the IRS is a big target too. If there is a security hole, the thieves will quickly find it: IRS Suspends Insecure ‘Get IP PIN’ Feature

 

[gromit]

NBC Nightly News just did a story on the IRS lawsuit phone scam. They think since 2014 there have been 900,000 calls and that 5,000 victims paid them money. The story also said that the US Attorney says that people who receive these calls should hang up and report it to the FBI, either by phone or online. The news story will probably get posted later or tomorrow on the NBC Nightly News website.

 

[audreyh1]

NBC Nightly News just did a story on the IRS lawsuit phone scam. They think since 2014 there have been 900,000 calls and that 5,000 victims paid them money. The story also said that the US Attorney says that people who receive these calls should hang up and report it to the FBI, either by phone or online. The news story will probably get posted later or tomorrow on the NBC Nightly News website.

borrowing Gromit's post from another thread.

Wow - that many calls, and that many victims!!!!!

I guess this thread should be merged with the IRS Lawsuit threat.

 

[Walt34]

I'll go ahead and do that.