Thursday the Internal Revenue Service reported over 20,000 Americans were cheated out of a collective $1 million by fraudsters claiming to be from the IRS. The agency described the scam as America’s ‘largest-ever telephone tax scam’. The confidence scheme was fairly sophisticated, but it is a sad state of affairs when citizens are unable distinguish between scam artists and their own government.
The alleged conmen hacked their caller ID so they appeared to be dialing from a local IRS office, then convinced taxpayers that they were legit by reciting the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, according to a release from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. They’ve swindled taxpayers from nearly every state into sending them money using a prepaid card or wire transfer.“This is the largest scam of its kind that we have ever seen,” said J. Russell George, the inspector general. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and uses threatening language if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.”The IRS doesn’t actually call people to demand unpaid tax money, at least not before sending out letters first. They also never ask for wire, credit card number or prepaid card transfers over the phone.
Why did people fall for this then? To put further pressure on their victims, the scammers allegedly phoned them again, changing the caller ID to show a police or motor vehicle office number, and threatening arrest, deportation or loss of a business or driver’s license.
Source: Marketwatch
Photo: Chuck Holton on Flickr
‘legitimate’ tax officials ? Who says the IRS is legitimate? They’re the 2nd biggest SCAM this country has had to endure!
IRS IS SO CORRUPT , WHO KNOWS ANY MORE????
Well when the real thing is just as much a bunch of criminals, how can anyone know the difference from one Criminal to the Next.
Check the real asses behind it ,Most likely the White house < you know The community activist Him self ...
I am sickof these scumbags !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought they were all scumbags and conmen?
I say disban the IRS and we would not have this problem
The best way to tell if it is real or not, if they want money it is a scam. Nobody has to pay for Obummacare, because nobody knows if you payed or not.
I didn’t fall for it. the ass hole that kept calling me accent was so bad I could not understand him.
get an accounter is much cheaper you try to save some and loose it all I try it back 1984 and found out the hard way ,so I got smart and start pay and I get my money irs is another word for mafia