Pervasive Telephone Scams.
The IRS has reported an increase in phone scams across the country, with callers pretending to be from the agents or other IRS representatives in hopes of stealing money or identities from victims. There are a number of variations on a theme ranging from instances from where callers say the victims owe money or are entitled to a huge refund to calls which threaten arrest. The IRS has noted a few patterns in these calls such as:
- Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves.
- Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security Number.
- Scammers “spoof” or imitate the IRS toll-free number on caller ID.
- Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS emails to some victims to support their bogus calls.
- Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site.
- After threatening victims with jail time or a driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim
