IRS Phone Scam

[Terry D EA]

I wish I had that opportunity. Everyone I get, the number is not a working number. These are the threats to sue me as well. Now up to five calls since I originally posted this. 

[Catherine]

16 hours ago, Lion EA said:

he received 3:00 a.m. calls for several nights running

That's when you turn the ringer off at night and set the message machine to scold fiercely.  

[Abby Normal]

The great thing about cell phones is Do Not Disturb mode that will only ring/beep when your favorites call or text. I don't have a landline phone in my bedroom and and can't hear it ring.

[SaraEA]

Terry, these crooks are so good that their phones are set up to accept calls only from the numbers they have dialed.  If they call your landline or home and you return the call from your cell or office, the call won't go through.  If only these people would put their obvious talents to better society the world might actually become a better place.

[Catherine]

I had one of these calls on my office voice mail this morning.  But there was a NEW twist -- it was a robo-call!  A *very* electronically-generated-sounding voice left a message about my non-response to the IRS over a fraud case and since I did not respond they had issues a warrant for my arrest.  Please call number boopedy-boop immediately.  

I need to put that on my web site as the latest twist, warning people.

And I saved the voice mail in case it is useful to someone somewhere.

[FDNY]

I received 2 calls in rapid recession on Wednesday (they must be working MA this week).  It was from a Seattle area code.  Like Catherine I will be advising my clients in my tax letter.  These calls have been all over the news but so many seniors are taken aback by the tone and immediacy of the calls that they still get rattled. 

Looks like it's up to us to be on the front line to battle this, like Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern to protect the public.

 

[jklcpa]

I've gotten the fake IRS robo calls repeatedly too, got my first one on the cell phone earlier today.  It's just so annoying. 

[SaraEA]

Medlin, while the Google voice seems a workable solution to the problem of unwanted calls, aren't you spooked by the possibility that your entire life is out there for advertisers and data miners?  Google is pretty famous for sharing your info (not as bad a Facebook, but bad enough).  If they turn your phone messages into words, they can mine those words and suddenly everything you ever said or anyone said to you is ripe for the picking.  They may sell your info only to "reputable" parties, who then sell it to other reputable parties, and it eventually can wind up on the dark web for sale to organized criminals.

In recent months IRS had to shut down taxpayer access to transcripts and PINs, including IRS-issued IP PINS.  Even though these sites used "out of wallet" questions to verify taxpayer identities, thieves had enough info to answer the questions and get in.  Where do you think they got that info?  Social media and google searches to be sure, but maybe GV?

We have been warned to never answer surveys of any kind because anything we voluntarily offer is owned by the survey taker and can be sold to anyone at all.  Can the same be said for our internet phone calls and messages?  I'm scared.

[Catherine]

21 hours ago, SaraEA said:

because anything we voluntarily offer is owned by the survey taker and can be sold to anyone at all.  Can the same be said for our internet phone calls and messages? 

Good point.

[Gail in Virginia]

Paranoia seems to be an appropriate response to internet technology these days. 

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

Many phone calls are carried over the internet.  VOIP, Skype, Ooma, MagicJack, etc., so one has to assume every call is over VOIP since you never know what the other party is using, and you may not even know how your own provider connects.  So no, I do not worry about someone looking for a few voice mail transcriptions out of the many, nor somehow monitoring the conversation - not any more than any phone call at all.  I simply assume they are not private.  Something I started doing with the first phones without cords, since those were easy to monitor, accidentally or on purpose.

[Catherine]

We need Maxwell Smart's "Cone of Silence" for all our conversations!  Who remembers "Get Smart"?

[BulldogTom]

8 minutes ago, Catherine said:

We need Maxwell Smart's "Cone of Silence" for all our conversations!  Who remembers "Get Smart"?

Agent 99 was a hottie.

Tom
Newark, CA

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

99!

The truth is, at least for me, the reverse.  I use a 360deg camera when driving.  I have cameras outside my house (good cameras make good neighbors, not fences).  I have the ability to record my umpire gigs - yes umpires have been and do get sued, and worse yet, get assaulted.  No matter the scenario, when it is clear there is a camera recording, it helps certain types behave better.

Also have two cameras inside my house - but those are to check on the dogs when away .

[Gail in Virginia]

2 hours ago, Medlin Software said:

99!

The truth is, at least for me, the reverse.  I use a 360deg camera when driving.  I have cameras outside my house (good cameras make good neighbors, not fences).  I have the ability to record my umpire gigs - yes umpires have been and do get sued, and worse yet, get assaulted.  No matter the scenario, when it is clear there is a camera recording, it helps certain types behave better.

Also have two cameras inside my house - but those are to check on the dogs when away .

I am curious about the 360deg camera when driving.  Does it record?  How is it mounted?  I have often thought it might be helpful in the event of an accident to have a record to back up your statement, but I have not seen technology advertised for this purpose. 

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

Kodak (name licensed to JK Imaging) SP360.  I mount it to windshield using their suction cup mount.  Records to SD in 10 min (IIRC) loops.  Has a setting to power on and off with the vehicle.  Fun little gadget to use for many things.  Stuck it on a letter when our daughter was marching in her HS band for a night parade.  They twirl the letters...  Underwater case is fun to use.  Mount it on one of our dogs - to their harness - when we walk, for fun at first, but now for security.  Plenty of loose dogs around, and we do have to pepper spray the loose ones from time to time.

There are many cameras now marketed for driving.  I have seen them at Costco.  I like the 360cam since it shows more, including me.  On the other hand, not showing me might be better if I mess up, but that is not my concern.  If I mess up, I can accept that.  I just want to be sure the truth comes out.  Same with the cams around the house.

I am really not the worrying type, but it is so easy to record things, and is a nice peace of mind.

[GeneInAlabama]

They can use any number to show up on your caller ID.  One time I received a call that showed that it was coming from my own phone.

When I get a robo or telemarketing call I usually save it under the name of "Z" so that it appears at the end of my address book and when I get a call from Z, I just open the phone and close it.  Even though a lot of those calls come from different numbers, the Z helps a whole lot.

[Don in Upstate NY]

On 8/23/2016 at 10:00 PM, SaraEA said:

If someone has already invented a robocall blocker, why don't our phone companies use one???? 

Because our phone companies are in the business of providing communication services between 'vendors' and potential 'clients'.  Much the same reason that the post office delivers mail addressed to 'resident'

[Terry D EA]

Well I finally got a call today from one of the other IRS scammers that allowed me to talk to them. First question (female voice) "how much do you owe the IRS?" Me, well if you are calling me and you are indeed the IRS, then you should know what I owe. No response, me- I owe absolutely nothing and I have your phone number and will turn you and the number over to the FTC. Click caller gone. They used the name National Tax Services. I googled the name and there are some legitimate businesses with this name so the scammers are apparently stealing business names as well. I know I owe zippo and I also know if I did, the IRS would never call me. Boy this is getting frustrating.

[jklcpa]

I easily set up the nomorobo on my home line with Comcast Xfinity and it is working well. We never gave that number out to anyone so any calls coming in are definitely not anyone we'd want to talk to.

Unfortunately my business line is a traditional line with Verizon where nomorobo isn't available at this time but is available if I upgrade to FIOS. I'm considering the upgrade since we are already wired for it because it would really be nice to have calls on that line blocked as well.

[Catherine]

I had a robo-call message on my machine a couple of days ago.  This one was different!  At the end of the "you have a fraud case and the IRS is going to arrest you unless you call blah-blah" the robo-voice ended with "God bless you" -- now THERE is proof the IRS did not make the call!

[Lion EA]

We got a bunch over a few days, more than one a day.  Hubby really wanted to play with them.  But by the time he'd pick up, they were gone; and their callback numbers went to voicemail or didn't connect to anything.  He's retired with time on his hands and wants to string one of them along!

[Catherine]

3 hours ago, Lion EA said:

 He's retired with time on his hands and wants to string one of them along!

Any time spent wasting their time is time they can't be stealing from some poor terrified elderly person!

[Lion EA]

Exactly.  Even if I don't have time for a robo-call, I put the headset down and let the live person come on and talk to the air.  If I can tie up their line for a minute, and if thousands of others do also, there's thousands of calls they can't make today.

[Jack from Ohio]

I enjoy playing with them.  When they ask my name, I give them the name of one of our Government Administration people.  I then pretend that I DO owe tens of thousands and have been running.  I have kept one of these on the phone for about 10 minutes before I slipped up.  I am looking to improve on my personal best in this competition.

The longer I keep them busy, the less time for them to find someone gullible.  

It is a shame though, that 1 out of 7 of their calls finds someone uninformed and gullible to send them money.