SCAM ALERT: Fake Call From "IRS"

[WEL]

I got an interesting call this morning claiming to be from the IRS. The call went to voicemail and when I checked the message it claimed that the IRS was suing me. I am pretty sure this is a scam because when I called the number back, I got a gentleman with a thick Indian accent, not the Federal bureaucrat attorney type at all.

Also, I am current on my taxes and if I were being sued, the paperwork would be formal and official and would arrive via the mail.

So - an FYI for you guys, this scam is making the rounds again.

[disneysteve]

This is an old scam.

The IRS will NEVER call you for anything. Don't respond.

[msomnipotent]

I get that call a lot, and they have a knack for calling when I have company over. I think some of them don't believe me when I tell them it is a scam.

[moneybags]

DO NOT give any personal information over the phone. As DisneySteve said, the IRS will not call you. All correspondence from the IRS comes through the mail. I also got the phone call. I'm pretty sure the IRS does not sue people. They have other ways of getting their money from you.

[rob62521]

Unfortunately we get this call on both our cell phone and landline. Getting pretty tired of it. That and the call from someone claiming they are from Microsoft. I just tell them I don't have a computer.

[GrimJack]

The calls can get pretty serious; a woman at work received a call from an IRS agent saying they need payment immediately; during the call, her cell rang and a deputy sheriff called to say he was on the way to take her to court. She was getting it from all sides - when she called her bank to set up the payment, they told her it was a scam and to hang up. The pressure of the moment was so intense that she freaked out and hung up on all of them.

If you get this call, contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at tigta.gov; when you get to the page it has a very red link that will walk you through reporting the contact. The procedure requests that you input a code of some sort so that if a real IRS agent wants to call, you will be able to verify him/her.
TIGTA are putting these guys away as fast as they can catch them. The IRS will not call you; the IRS will not 'out of the blue' sue you for back taxes - would get at least 5 letters of increasing insistence before garnishments begin