On Feb 27, 2015 Sgt. Guerra of VPD received a phone call claiming to be from the IRS. He knew it to be a common scam, so he decided to call the number back and document it. What happened next was completely unexpected. He had this to say:

It’s not often that I find myself speechless, but this was one instance that I was a bit tongue tied at what transpired. If you’ve watched the video, you know now that I was able to get a scammer from Pakistan
on the phone that was brazen enough to give me step by step details into how their scam works.

Several things happened throughout the course of this video that really caught me off guard:

1) The conference call situation. I was not expecting this and I’ve never heard of this happening.

2) I apparently am completely incapable of saying the phrase “Green Dot Money Pak”

3) Most shockingly, even more so than the scammer’s willingness to give me details on the scam was when he became polite and apologetic for his poor English.

4) They are very much aware of the limitations and jurisdiction enforcement issues placed on law enforcement and really have no fear of repercussion. They literally have NOTHING TO LOSE.

So as I mentioned in the video, here are the details on how this scam works:

Credit to www.irs.gov

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a preloaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

“This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country.  We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves.  Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a prepaid debit card or wire transfer,” says IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.” Werfel noted that the first IRS contact with taxpayers on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail.

Other characteristics of this scam include:

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 the IRS tollfree number on caller ID to make it appear that it’s the IRS calling.

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 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.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here’s what you should do:

If you know you owe taxes or you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS employees at that line can help you with a payment issue – if there really is such an issue.

If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you owe any taxes (for example, you’ve never received a bill or the caller made some bogus threats as described above), then call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484.

You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.

Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.

The IRS encourages taxpayers to be vigilant against phone and email scams that use the IRS as a lure. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information.  This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS also does not ask for PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Recipients should not open
any attachments or click on any links contained in the message. Instead, forward the email to [email protected].

More information on how to report phishing scams involving the IRS is available on the genuine

IRS website, IRS.gov.