The IRS Scam

Please read this carefully because I went through an upsetting experience with some scammer only two days ago. And while I'm sure many of you are aware of these scams as well as the lottery scams, and the emails, and so many others, I'm sorry to say there are still so many vulnerable people who continue to fall for them, and we can only keep trying to alert people to them especially if we experience anything unpleasant, which I did.

I'm fortunate I didn't lose any money to learn any hard lesson (I've lost my share of money to scammers believe me as I'm sure many have) but this time my little unpleasantness began with a few messages I found on my answer machine (I don't answer my phone to often during the day since I'm busy writing)  while other times I'm out) from someone claiming to be from the IRS, and someone from this house was in trouble, and needed to reach them right away. Now that alone should have alerted me that something wasn't right. 

First of all the whenever you have any issues with the IRS they write to you first. They don't contact  you out of the blue like that. But being busy, and distracted (they get you that way, and they count on that) I didn't think about it. But I saved the messages anyway, and then forgot about them. 

This past Monday they called again so I answered only the left a recording saying something to the effect that someone in this house was in the process of getting arrested, and soon. I called my husband, and told him so I gave him the phone, but all he caught was the number they asked us to call. Again they didn't leave no name of who was supposedly being arrested. Strange that the IRS would keep calling like this, but they wouldn't say who they were looking for. Maybe they wanted to surprise whoever it was. I mean who knows with the IRS? Either way I wasn't thinking, for it was pretty early, my autistic five year old was running around making noise, and my husband was heading out to work. I told him I may as well answer that call already and get it over with. We both agreed that the call could be a mistake, and we needed to clear it up. After all neither of us could possibly owe taxes so what could this be about? Why would any of us get arrested?

I waited a few minutes after he left before I called the number back. A man with a strong accent answered the phone, but that wasn't the problem. I asked if anyone from that number called us, so he asked for my name which I gave him (stupid of me I should have asked who they were looking for; for they were calling me. Why should I give them my name when they called me? Duh!) But yes I gave them my name, and confirmed my address which he had read to me. From there he went on to explain that he was calling from the IRS (it was hard to understand him, but he may have also claimed to be a law firm for them) and that I owed some money. He asked me if I received any letters which I told him I didn't. He said I should have for they sent a few. Now how would I not have received any? Not likely. 

This didn't make sense so I quickly explained to him that I was a stay at home mom who hadn't worked in years so what taxes did I owe or was in trouble for? He paused for a moment, and then claimed that it was from taxes years ago, and then quickly said something about tax evasion. He was confusing me, because the more questions I tried to ask the faster he spoke obviously trying to keep me off track. I guess when that wasn't working he quickly reverted back to his fear tactic because he went back to the jail story. He insisted that we needed to do something fast because the lady officer was on her way, but if I retained his services he could put a stop to the arrest. Now I had to pause because nothing he said was making sense. I admit that I had a bad experience years ago that was triggered with his threat. Then I wondered if I somehow screwed something up even though it wasn't possible. 

But this clown was making me nervous. He claimed I could retain his services for a thousand dollars, but that the overall fee was two thousand dollars. He even tried to make the call sound more legit by saying they IRS doesn't take information over the phone, but in the same breath they accept cash and Credit Cards. So what did I want to do for this woman was getting closer? I told him I couldn't afford his services, and that I would have to speak to my husband. Maybe he panicked then because he demanded to know what my husband had to do with anything, that what could he do and I finally hung up. 

I didn't have the money to pay this person for such a fee anyway, but the fact that he asked for it raised every red flag. None of it made sense, but I was in tears. I called my husband on his cell and relayed the threat the man made. I was lucky his bus hadn't arrived yet, so he turned back and came home. He was pretty sure the call was a scam especially when I mentioned that the man asked for money, and the amount he asked for. He told me to call the IRS to follow up with them, which I did. I wasn't able to get through, but they had a whole section about scams which I took time to read up on. My husband stayed with me for more than 45 minutes and of course no one showed up to arrest me. 

I was relieved even as I knew it was a scam, but my nerves were bad the whole day. And that's the thing with scams like this or any scam. Just remember a very important thing with the IRS they will send you a letter first. They wouldn't send anyone to just arrest you out of the blue, but to hear anyone threaten you with that, could be very unsettling. If you get such calls just hang up right away and call the IRS directly. Never give out your information to anyone promising to stop an arrest regardless of what it is for. Check with the IRS or any company first. Don't ever give out your information or credit card number to any of these fraudsters. And please don't wire them money. Stay safe.