Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

kbd512 · 2018-06-22 08:39:57

I received a phone call yesterday from someone claiming to be from the IRS. He threatened to have me arrested for tax evasion and fraud. He knew which systems the IRS used for electronic payments, which sections of US Code to cite as relevant to tax evasion and fraud, and even had someone else call me claiming to be a HPD Officer from a phone number that matches HPD's dispatch number. He wanted me to go to my bank, get cash out of my bank account, and purchase Google Play cards to pay the IRS. I told him that he was trying to extort money from me and hung up.

I called the IRS and the man I spoke with said my account with them was in good standing for all years and that nothing was owed to them. I then called the Harris County Sheriff's Office to file a report with them. I told the officer who came to see me that if I was under arrest for anything, I'd save him the trouble. The officer who responded checked to see if any warrants were issued for my arrest and found nothing.

The officer who responded said he received a similar call and also said he'd save the people who called him the trouble and arrest himself since he's a Police Officer, at which time they promptly hung up. He said he had a family member who really did fail to pay the IRS what was owed and the IRS simply seized his assets and bank account.

The real IRS will just take money from your bank account if you owe them money. If they don't have access to your bank account, they'll seize your vehicles, house, or other assets. Furthermore, the real IRS doesn't care how you pay them, they just want the money.

If you receive a phone call like this, either hang up (what I did) or pretend to play along (what I should've done) so you can walk into a Police Station and have the phone call traced in order to arrest the people committing this fraud.

RobertDyck · 2018-06-22 08:55:53

Congratulations, we've been getting these in Canada for a couple years. They're slowly getting more believable. I've gotten a few voice mails like that this year. They leave a phone# to call. Never call that number, instead look up the real number for CRA, or in your country IRS. The RCMP (Canada's federal police) has a warning on the home page of their antifraud division. It's so common they don't even want to take your report. If the phone# redirects out of country, such as Nigeria, there's nothing they can do.

Last edited by RobertDyck (2018-06-22 17:49:05)

Void · 2018-06-22 10:05:07

That one was done to a relative who is not entirely fit mentally.

Thankfully I was able to warn that relative not to be concerned and not to give out information.

......

I also had a scam from "Windows Support".

They left a message saying that they had detected activity trying to hack my computer, and blah blah blah.

When I called the number they indicated that I should hold and a representative would help me soon. That I should turn on my computer now.

Of course what they want you to do is let them into your computer, and then they install spyware, and search for identity information.

These scams apparently actually set up fake offices even.

louis · 2018-06-22 12:55:50

This is a well know scam, adapted for different countries. There are lots of You Tube videos where you can see people scamming the scammers back (sending them apoplectic with rage) - some of them are hilarious. In some cases the anti-scammers manage to access the scammer's computer or even switch on their computer camera! All good fun.

kbd512 wrote:

I received a phone call yesterday from someone claiming to be from the IRS. He threatened to have me arrested for tax evasion and fraud. He knew which systems the IRS used for electronic payments, which sections of US Code to cite as relevant to tax evasion and fraud, and even had someone else call me claiming to be a HPD Officer from a phone number that matches HPD's dispatch number. He wanted me to go to my bank, get cash out of my bank account, and purchase Google Play cards to pay the IRS. I told him that he was trying to extort money from me and hung up.
I called the IRS and the man I spoke with said my account with them was in good standing for all years and that nothing was owed to them. I then called the Harris County Sheriff's Office to file a report with them. I told the officer who came to see me that if I was under arrest for anything, I'd save him the trouble. The officer who responded checked to see if any warrants were issued for my arrest and found nothing.
The officer who responded said he received a similar call and also said he'd save the people who called him the trouble and arrest himself since he's a Police Officer, at which time they promptly hung up. He said he had a family member who really did fail to pay the IRS what was owed and the IRS simply seized his assets and bank account.
The real IRS will just take money from your bank account if you owe them money. If they don't have access to your bank account, they'll seize your vehicles, house, or other assets. Furthermore, the real IRS doesn't care how you pay them, they just want the money.
If you receive a phone call like this, either hang up (what I did) or pretend to play along (what I should've done) so you can walk into a Police Station and have the phone call traced in order to arrest the people committing this fraud.

kbd512 · 2018-06-22 13:19:47

Louis,

I've no idea how common or uncommon this is, but wanted to put it out there as a PSA. If everyone already knows about it, then that's great. If not, then hopefully a few more people learn about it. I don't spend my time thinking up ways to screw people over.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-22 17:23:28

Thanks as there are many scams on going everywhere and to smell a rat before they can do harm is good.
The apps on cell phones and web pages are full of them and making the wrong selection could open you up to losing your identity.

RobertDyck · 2018-06-23 08:58:53

It just got worse.
Vancouver CRA scammers make woman hand over $6,000 but never posed as cops

UPDATE: June 22: Vancouver police have now issued a clarification about what happened during this recent CRA scam.
Police say the woman was scammed out of $6,000 by someone who called her claiming to be with the CRA. However, the rest of the story released by police Thursday is not true.
No one showed up at the woman’s door looking like RCMP officers, handcuffed her or drove her to Cambie Street and King Edward to take out money.
Police say at no time did she deal with anyone in person.

Please don't file a false police report. Be honest.

Oldfart1939 · 2018-07-18 10:37:56

I unfortunately DID get scammed by this system; what was bad about the guy calling me was having my complete S.S. number. That lent credence to the fraudster. Didn't get much before I woke up to what was going on. Took it to the FBI and local police.

kbd512 · 2018-07-18 13:50:58

Oldfart1939,

Please tell me you didn't pay them. If you did, open an investigation with TIGTA (Treasury Inspector General's Office) and IRS so both agencies will come at the problem from both ends.

Oldfart1939 · 2018-07-18 14:50:31

They "got me" for $200 as a "good faith gesture." The FBI has everything I could provide, and the caller was outside the US using a repeater USA phone number. It smelled fishy, but occurred at the same time my wife had passed away, which rendered me "vulnerable." Because of the small amount of money involved, the FBI said it couldn't be investigated. I was told that "others in my local community" had been bilked for >>$10,000. That had their full attention.

SpaceNut · 2018-07-18 21:07:32

With the issues of all the hacked data bases there is every chance these days that a SSN will be known, the phone numbers even for cellphones from places of social media as well and an address is about all it take to fish for what they want.
We have learned that even answering an unknown number may be all it takes to get the electronics hacked with this current generation of smart phones.
You were lucky in that it was not more, One of my sons had his bank account hacked for about the same from just visiting a website so it does not take much. He was lucky that he did not lose more and was lucky that the bank did reverse the charges and closed that account. Such that they could go after the intruder....

kbd512 · 2018-07-18 22:08:22

SpaceNut,

Anyone who thinks that any part of their personal information will remain private in the computer age is living in a world I'm not familiar with. There are certain practices one can implement to reduce attack surface and minimize vulnerabilities, but in the end if a thief is determined to obtain and exploit personal information, it will be done. That's just the way it is and I'm not sure what can really be done about it.

SpaceNut · 2018-07-19 18:47:20

You miss the real point thou in that if hacks can not be stopped as in that we can then lose to espionage as well, safety overides could occur on reactors and power grid damage or losses and so much more as they continue to gain control of the US internet....

kbd512 · 2018-07-19 21:10:30

SpaceNut,

If someone really wants to steal something from us, they're going to find a way to do it. Even if a Chinese military officer had to infiltrate a US military base to escape with a F-22 or F-35, he or she could do it. Their problem has always been replicating technologies after they steal it. They just can't seem to do that. That's the problem with stealing stuff for so long that you lack the drive or creativity to figure out how it works. If stealth technology really didn't work, do you really think they'd waste so much time and money trying to build their own stealth fighters or trying to steal ours?

As I've stated several times before, the Chinese can't make a jet engine that simply lasts more than 5,000 hours before it's completely trashed and the only domestic jet engines they make are based on Russian designs with similarly short lifespans. Our engines go 10,000 to 15,000 hours before a tear down for a hot section inspection and the newer ones can live nearly indefinite lives with proper maintenance.

The latest Russian fighter jet engines are so sensitive to FOD that the Indian Sukhois that join in the reindeer games at Red Flag require 1 minute takeoff intervals to avoid FOD'ing out their engines. In contrast, all of our fighters (A-10 / F-15 / F-16 / FA-18 / F-22 / F-35) are so closely spaced in takeoff that they're literally sucking in exhaust from the ship ahead of them. We'll typically have 3 to 4 ships airborne in the time it takes the Chinese or Russians to get 1 airborne (single file down the runway).

The Russians replicated the serial numbers on B-29 parts using B-29's that made a forced landing in Russia during WWII because they had no system of their own to replicate what we did to create the B-29. It was like handing the keys to a Ferrari to some kid from an Amish farm who had never seen a car before. After a massive engineering and development effort, the Tupolev Tu-4 (B-29 copy) flew, but they never really solved the engine problems with their direct copy or their own derivative because they didn't really understand the technology. The same thing happened years later when they "captured" a Sidewinder that failed to detonate after striking one of their fighters.

I'm not saying they aren't capable, because they certainly are, but I've never seen them demonstrate the level of technical understanding or commitment to be a real threat to us. Some of their technology is truly ingenious, but it's just not on the same level as our is. I think the better part of a century has proven that nuclear weapons aren't an effective deterrent to conventional ways of fighting wars, so conventional wars will be the way of the future.

The only technology where our adversaries have achieved a relative level of technological parity has been in missile technology. Even at that, their sensors and electronics are comparatively crude.

Are they a threat? In as much as they have thousands of nuclear weapons, yes. Apart from that? Not really. They don't have navies with capabilities that come anywhere near our navy and their aircraft are at least a decade behind ours, if not two decades. Their turbine engine technology hasn't advanced appreciably from where our technology was in the late 50's to early 60's, in terms of reliability and durability. In another two decades, who knows. I don't have a crystal ball to peer into.

The power grid stuff is relatively simple. You don't connect it to the internet. Joe Average can figure that out. The internet itself isn't controlled by anybody because it's not possible.

SpaceNut · 2021-12-29 18:45:37

Look out for some more bank identity scams where they attempt to open accounts with a fake cashier check that's been altered.
This one is happening with PNC Bank accounts and identity theft as well.

Contact the credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, Innovis, or TransUnion Credit — for more information.

Equifax: (External) www.equifax.com or 1-800-525-6285

In July 2019, Equifax settled a lawsuit stemming from its 2017 data breach, which exposed the personal information of 147 million people. Under the settlement with the FTC, CFPB and state attorneys general, Equifax has agreed to spend up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach. If you were affected, you may be eligible for benefits. Visit ftc.gov/Equifax to learn more.

Of course all they want to do is sell credit guard insurance...

Experian: (External) www.experian.com or 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: (External) www.transunion.com or 1-800-680-7289

This one must be new
Innovis: (External) www.innovis.com or 1-800-540-2505

We know that with the hacking going on that its only a matter of time before you run up against your identity being stolen.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/f … tity-theft

IdentityTheft.gov is the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims.

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

It seems that if its a banking you end up here
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-08-14 05:55:05

Think of the slightly high IQ, the clever 'Space Pirate' you might see in tv shows, in books, in StarWars, in video games or StarTrek. In visions of the future the human 'Pirate' still exists

Not exactly the same Desi culture as the Pakistani terrorist, its not some Gypsy Carnie in Europe that will try rob you with a knife, the theft has a higher level of sophistication and a more slick digital intrusion.

If Mars is to have business, trade in Ores sell Low Tech Machines and Stocks,

How would a growing economy across the Moon and Mars and Titan, and how can a galactic stock exchange prevent Large-scale security interweb theft?

When tech support is a scam: How India’s call-centre scams became big money
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-ins … ey-2876366

Russian ex-con arrives in US to face crypto laundering charges
https://cybernews.com/crypto/russian-ex … g-charges/

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-08-14 05:56:08)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2024-03-30 03:28:44

How Mewat became India's new hub for cyber criminals
https://www.dw.com/en/how-mewat-became- … o-68674527
Mewat, a cultural region spanning three Indian states, has become a hotspot for people conducting scams via phone.

and even worse collections of people

the social media Telegram Messenger its seems to be a chaos mix of C++, Swift, then C, Java, Python and attracts all the worst types of people on its social media platform

'Telegram' social media site it allows users to exchange messages, share media and files, and hold private and group voice or video calls as well as public livestreams of your nation's mass shootings

a new social media with a mix of US Marxist Leftwing Looters and QAnon Rightwing Rioters a collection of all kinds of people from across the world but the headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

France and its history of terrorism? Two French jihadists who killed a Catholic priest in a church had first met only days earlier through the encrypted messaging app 'Telegram'
https://web.archive.org/web/20190512224 … index.html

Images threatening attacks in London and other major world capitals have been posted on jihadi messaging app 'Telegram' as counter-terror police issue advice to religious institutions in the UK
https://web.archive.org/web/20190512224 … ed-8500399

selling leaked phone numbers from Facebook
https://web.archive.org/web/20210126113 … legram-bot

crimes
https://web.archive.org/web/20210627152 … n-12074920

drugs
https://web.archive.org/web/20201129203 … s-73922471

criminals
https://web.archive.org/web/20210227231 … criminals/

abuse
https://web.archive.org/web/20210924162 … index.html

Kremlin delivers warning to Telegram boss after Moscow terror attack
https://www.politico.eu/article/telegra … vel-durov/

SpaceNut · 2024-03-30 12:56:19

Well, the IRS is blocking the e-file of my return again now for the 3 year after one of my son's ID had been stolen. But it appears that they do not reset the flag they are using even after several years paper returns, and they believe that the ID.Me site with a pin is the solution to identities. When it was the Leaked IRS site that allowed it to be stolen in the first place.

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#1 2018-06-22 08:39:57

Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#2 2018-06-22 08:55:53

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#3 2018-06-22 10:05:07

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#4 2018-06-22 12:55:50

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#5 2018-06-22 13:19:47

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#6 2018-06-22 17:23:28

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#7 2018-06-23 08:58:53

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#8 2018-07-18 10:37:56

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#9 2018-07-18 13:50:58

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#10 2018-07-18 14:50:31

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#11 2018-07-18 21:07:32

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#12 2018-07-18 22:08:22

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#13 2018-07-19 18:47:20

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#14 2018-07-19 21:10:30

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#15 2021-12-29 18:45:37

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#16 2022-08-14 05:55:05

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#17 2024-03-30 03:28:44

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

#18 2024-03-30 12:56:19

Re: Phone Scam from Individuals Claiming to be IRS Employees

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