IRS Scam Calls

RustyBourneHorse

Well-Known Member
Messages
36,708
Reaction score
42,539
So, yesterday afternoon, I received a disturbing phone call from a recorded message that claimed to be the IRS. It went to my voicemail, but I mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to save it (my phone's not a very good phone). However, I did manage to save the phone number, and I checked the phone number online. I found out that the phone number is a well known IRS Spam number. So, I reported it to this link: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

The above link is an official government website to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Given that it's the time of year for this sort of harrassment, I felt it might be useful to share this with you all if you should ever find yourself with such a phone call. Here's a link from the official IRS website involving this sort of stuff: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-of-pervasive-telephone-scam

As you can see in the link, the IRS wouldn't call you to inform you about this sort of information. So, if you should receive such a phone call, do not panic. If you should forget to save the message like I did, shouldn't be any worries as long as you have the phone number. A bit like reporting dangerous driving, the phone number is basically the license plate of the scammers. If you do manage to retain the message, then keep that on your phone. Either way, DO report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Turn the tables on the scammers, and let the REAL IRS sort it out.

I do hope that you all find this information helpful. What other sort of scams have you found yourself dealing with?
 

Quickdraw

Well-Known Member
Messages
988
Reaction score
1,627
I was called a few years back and ended up calling the number back. The moron on the other end who spoke like he was from India, didn't answer the phone like someone at the IRS (which I had already known wouldn't). I lit into that touchhole and he ended up telling me ffffff you. I laugh every time I tell that story.
 

RustyBourneHorse

Well-Known Member
Messages
36,708
Reaction score
42,539
I was called a few years back and ended up calling the number back. The moron on the other end who spoke like he was from India, didn't answer the phone like someone at the IRS (which I had already known wouldn't). I lit into that touchhole and he ended up telling me ffffff you. I laugh every time I tell that story.

Lol, nicely done!
 

Reverend Conehead

Well-Known Member
Messages
9,938
Reaction score
11,821
I got a scam IRS call claiming I was delinquent and had a warrant out for my arrest. I'm so sick of bogus calls and have considered some type of robo call blocking system. I get other kinds of BS calls all the time too.
 

RustyBourneHorse

Well-Known Member
Messages
36,708
Reaction score
42,539
I got a scam IRS call claiming I was delinquent and had a warrant out for my arrest. I'm so sick of bogus calls and have considered some type of robo call blocking system. I get other kinds of BS calls all the time too.

I'm tired of those sorts of calls too. That's why I reported the one that scammed me, and I will be reporting every single one that tries to scam me.
 

Supercowboy1986

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,204
Reaction score
3,022
I’ve gotten the irs scam calls before. It’s so obvious that I feel bad when people get duped.

The one that make me laugh is the Microsoft scam call.
 

CouchCoach

Staff member
Messages
41,122
Reaction score
74,902
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
So, yesterday afternoon, I received a disturbing phone call from a recorded message that claimed to be the IRS. It went to my voicemail, but I mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to save it (my phone's not a very good phone). However, I did manage to save the phone number, and I checked the phone number online. I found out that the phone number is a well known IRS Spam number. So, I reported it to this link: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

The above link is an official government website to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Given that it's the time of year for this sort of harrassment, I felt it might be useful to share this with you all if you should ever find yourself with such a phone call. Here's a link from the official IRS website involving this sort of stuff: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-of-pervasive-telephone-scam

As you can see in the link, the IRS wouldn't call you to inform you about this sort of information. So, if you should receive such a phone call, do not panic. If you should forget to save the message like I did, shouldn't be any worries as long as you have the phone number. A bit like reporting dangerous driving, the phone number is basically the license plate of the scammers. If you do manage to retain the message, then keep that on your phone. Either way, DO report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Turn the tables on the scammers, and let the REAL IRS sort it out.

I do hope that you all find this information helpful. What other sort of scams have you found yourself dealing with?
Hopefully that will have more effect than the Donotcall.gov site, what a freakin' joke. That is nothing more than giving the illusion they're actually doing something when they do nothing. And I mean nothing, try following up with them.

That's not to say all of them are like that, I have found the SSA and IRS sites and people to be very helpful. But before they did the DNC site, I was getting maybe 3 of these calls a week, now it is at least 3 a day. Hell, I think the robo callers are tied into the DNC site. Register your number and sit back and wait for the calls to come pouring in.
 

CouchCoach

Staff member
Messages
41,122
Reaction score
74,902
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
I’ve gotten the irs scam calls before. It’s so obvious that I feel bad when people get duped.

The one that make me laugh is the Microsoft scam call.
Love that! With the guys that can barely speak English telling you to go to your computer. The last one I got, I told the guy I was in the industry and on the cutting edge, on my computer looking at a picture of him and forwarding it to Interpol. He hung up on me.
 

Hardline

Well-Known Member
Messages
20,797
Reaction score
36,317
I’ve gotten the irs scam calls before. It’s so obvious that I feel bad when people get duped.

The one that make me laugh is the Microsoft scam call.
I have an arsenal of hindu jokes and insults for any of those fake Microsoft scammers.
They can't wait to get off the phone with me.
 

CouchCoach

Staff member
Messages
41,122
Reaction score
74,902
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
I've got to share this one story about my father-in-law and an aluminum siding sales lady back in the day before any of this technology.

He worked as a brakeman on the MoPac RR and worked overnights. This lady called him during the day when he was at home trying to sleep and after the 3rd time she had called in as many weeks, he explained to her that he was a 3rd shifter on the railroad and needed to get his sleep during the day and was not interested. Well, she called again the next week about the same time. But he had a plan.

He told her that he was actually in the market for siding but needed to talk to his wife because she had mentioned that someone else had called and she told them she'd call him back. He told her that she'd been persistent and deserved the business and could he have her home phone number and he'd call her after he spoke with his wife. She gave him her number and was excited about getting the sale.

The next morning at 3am sharp, he called her from work. She answered the phone, obviously from being dead asleep. He announced himself and told her that he and his wife had decided to buy siding from the other guy. She slammed the phone down and he never heard from her again.
 

Tabascocat

Dexternjack
Messages
26,596
Reaction score
36,291
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
Call Protect app, think by ATT, has been a lifesaver for me. I went from around 100 spam calls a week to just a couple that slip by.
 

Reverend Conehead

Well-Known Member
Messages
9,938
Reaction score
11,821
There's a Youtube guy who scams the scammers. When they call claiming to be from Microsoft or whatever, he lets them access a virtual Windows install under VirtualBox. He then uses the connection they create to raid their computers. He got in and found a list of scammed bank account info and then used that info to call all those banks and warn them about the security compromise so they could alert their customers and prevent them from getting ripped off.
 

Quickdraw

Well-Known Member
Messages
988
Reaction score
1,627
If you have a landline, nomorobo.com works pretty good. It doesn't work for cell phones yet but I hear they're working on it.
 

Reverend Conehead

Well-Known Member
Messages
9,938
Reaction score
11,821
Also be on alert for alarm system scams. Someone will call or come by and claim to be from a known legitimate alarm company like ADT or Protection 1 or whoever claiming to have a great deal if you sign up on the spot. Very often they're scammers who don't work for any alarm company at all, but instead take people's money and leave a worthless contract behind. If you want alarm service, do the research online and make sure you're talking to the real company that gives such service.
 

Idgit

Fattening up
Staff member
Messages
58,971
Reaction score
60,826
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Not an IRS scam, or even a scam, really, but AT&T gave out my customer information to a third party sales company a few years back. That company called with my account details--knowing my address, my account ID, what services I was using, where I had my DVRS located...the works. I was at work when the called me to suggest I had a 'mandatory' move to Uverse happening in my area and to schedule a time. They asked me to confirm my SSN, and--I still can't believe I was stupid enough to do it, but I was distracted with a work problem and didn't think---I gave them my SSN. They then gave me an 11 digit confirmation number, set a time and date for the install, and we got off the phone.

As soon as I'd said the number out loud, I started freaking out. I went through the links in the email they'd sent to see if any of them were phishing links. I checked the registries for all the phone numbers. Logged into my AT&T account to see if there was an appointment scheduled, and found that my AT&T confirmation numbers were 10 digits instead of 11. I freaked out. Went and signed up for ID protection service and started looking into how to notify the IRS in the event of a false tax return filing. About a week goes by, and I get a robo-call confirming my Uverse install appointment. I call the real AT&T to confirm, and it was, in fact, a real appointment scheduled by a legit third party. Took the day off of work, and the installer came over to say after about an hour and half of messing around my house that my area didn't qualify for the Uverse service yet.

After calling their customer service 5-6 times and getting nowhere, I opened a PUC complaint against AT&T which they of course disputed and was closed. Thanks, PUC. AT&T simply doesn't care about customer experience, apparently. That they'd give my specific installation information to a third party without my consent is one thing. That they'd allow that third party to ask for SSN confirmation of their customers after building trust using that account-specific information is, in my opinion, not forgivable. I've moved all my services away from AT&T and share that story where I can in the hopes other people will take note and avoid them, too. Also, their products suck and are unreliable. Just a terrible experience with them.

And, yeah, the IRS isn't going to call you, they're going to use documented post. And don't give you full SSN to anybody when they ask, because only idiots and mouthbreathers do that, apparently.
 

Ranching

Well-Known Member
Messages
43,031
Reaction score
107,310
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Not an IRS scam, or even a scam, really, but AT&T gave out my customer information to a third party sales company a few years back. That company called with my account details--knowing my address, my account ID, what services I was using, where I had my DVRS located...the works. I was at work when the called me to suggest I had a 'mandatory' move to Uverse happening in my area and to schedule a time. They asked me to confirm my SSN, and--I still can't believe I was stupid enough to do it, but I was distracted with a work problem and didn't think---I gave them my SSN. They then gave me an 11 digit confirmation number, set a time and date for the install, and we got off the phone.

As soon as I'd said the number out loud, I started freaking out. I went through the links in the email they'd sent to see if any of them were phishing links. I checked the registries for all the phone numbers. Logged into my AT&T account to see if there was an appointment scheduled, and found that my AT&T confirmation numbers were 10 digits instead of 11. I freaked out. Went and signed up for ID protection service and started looking into how to notify the IRS in the event of a false tax return filing. About a week goes by, and I get a robo-call confirming my Uverse install appointment. I call the real AT&T to confirm, and it was, in fact, a real appointment scheduled by a legit third party. Took the day off of work, and the installer came over to say after about an hour and half of messing around my house that my area didn't qualify for the Uverse service yet.

After calling their customer service 5-6 times and getting nowhere, I opened a PUC complaint against AT&T which they of course disputed and was closed. Thanks, PUC. AT&T simply doesn't care about customer experience, apparently. That they'd give my specific installation information to a third party without my consent is one thing. That they'd allow that third party to ask for SSN confirmation of their customers after building trust using that account-specific information is, in my opinion, not forgivable. I've moved all my services away from AT&T and share that story where I can in the hopes other people will take note and avoid them, too. Also, their products suck and are unreliable. Just a terrible experience with them.

And, yeah, the IRS isn't going to call you, they're going to use documented post. And don't give you full SSN to anybody when they ask, because only idiots and mouthbreathers do that, apparently.
I got a call from someone telling me I was an idiot and didn't know what I was talking about. I did a reverse search and it was someone named Jason Garrett!!!!!
 

YosemiteSam

Unfriendly and Aloof!
Messages
45,756
Reaction score
21,941
So, yesterday afternoon, I received a disturbing phone call from a recorded message that claimed to be the IRS. It went to my voicemail, but I mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to save it (my phone's not a very good phone). However, I did manage to save the phone number, and I checked the phone number online. I found out that the phone number is a well known IRS Spam number. So, I reported it to this link: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

The above link is an official government website to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Given that it's the time of year for this sort of harrassment, I felt it might be useful to share this with you all if you should ever find yourself with such a phone call. Here's a link from the official IRS website involving this sort of stuff: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-of-pervasive-telephone-scam

As you can see in the link, the IRS wouldn't call you to inform you about this sort of information. So, if you should receive such a phone call, do not panic. If you should forget to save the message like I did, shouldn't be any worries as long as you have the phone number. A bit like reporting dangerous driving, the phone number is basically the license plate of the scammers. If you do manage to retain the message, then keep that on your phone. Either way, DO report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Turn the tables on the scammers, and let the REAL IRS sort it out.

I do hope that you all find this information helpful. What other sort of scams have you found yourself dealing with?

I get these all the time. Hopefully they catch this guy and give him life in prison with plenty of *** raping. btw, I NEVER answer my home phone.
 
Top