Legal Meets Practical

While my blog’s focused on veterans, this is one issue that can affect anyone with a phone and a social security number.

Recently, scammers have taken to calling individuals under the guise of being “officers employed by the Internal Revenue Service.” Initially, not even a live person calls – even if you pick up the phone, you’re treated to a one-minute recording where you’re told to call back the number. They also threaten the following:

“The IRS has issued an arrest warrant on you. Right now, you and your physical property both are being monitored. And it’s very important that I do hear back from you as soon as possible before we proceed further in any legal matter,” the voicemail says (or some variation thereof).

There are a few things wrong with this assertion:

1. There are no officers with the IRS who would be criminally prosecuting you. It’s not the IRS who arrests/investigates those engaged in tax fraud – it’s the U.S. Department of Justice (though investigations start with an IRS special agent).
2. If a U.S. government agency was prosecuting you, they wouldn’t initiate the matter by calling you and leaving a voicemail.
3. If the IRS suspected you of tax evasion/fraud, they’d send you written correspondence first.
4. The IRS would never make the threats contained in the voicemail, such as representing it will send local law enforcement agents to your door or levy your property.

If you do get on the phone with “Officer X,” he will try to scare you into asking for personal information such as debit card information and social security numbers. Hopefully obviously, never give that kind of information to a stranger on the phone! Especially not to a Special Human like this. Honestly, now – this isn’t even a smart scam.

I received such a call today, and when I Googled “IRS phone scam,” I found that this is a very recent phenomenon. If you find yourself at the receiving end of a call like this, you can add your number on the National Do Not Call List at http://www.donotcall.gov. Also, report the details and the phone number that called you by emailing [email protected]. (The number that called me was 254-488-6064).

Like dealing with the IRS isn’t stressful enough. We don’t need to be dealing with an IRS phone scam, too.

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on veteran issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com.

       Don’t give this dummy your money!