Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department filed criminal complaints against five individuals for allegedly bilking roughly $2 million out of 1,500 people by posing as IRS agents. While that case continues, authorities in India also busted 70 people in that country for impersonating U.S. IRS agents with the intent to steal money from U.S. Citizens.
You may have received the phone calls. The scripts goes something like this: “This is the IRS calling. A lawsuit has been filed against you.” Then the automated system leaves a phone number for you to call back. This is a form of phishing that is referred to sometimes as vishing or voice phishing.
The same rules apply to vishing as to phishing. If you are not expecting a call from someone asking you for sensitive information about yourself or your family members, then you should treat it with much suspicion. As in any case where this type of information is requested, you should be the one to initiate such calls. Never give out credit card information to someone calling you unless you have an ongoing conversation with them and you are certain it’s a legitimate cause to provide those details.
The IRS will never call you to tell you there is a warrant out for your arrest, that a lawsuit is being filed against you, or any other type of communication initially. They will start the conversation with a letter sent by U.S. Mail. If you are ever in doubt about a phone call you receive, contact the IRS separately by getting the phone number off the IRS website. Always ask for an agent’s badge number and name too and write down details of your conversations just in case.
Should you be tempted to call a phone number provided by an automated system, really think about it first. Scammers like this often use scare tactics to get responses and get cash from victims. And what is scarier than the IRS? The IRS would also never use a “money gram” type service or pre-paid cards to receive payments from you. Requests for those should raise red flags very high.
Fortunately, Indian officials have taken action in the city of Thane by busting nine call centers there for the latest IRS impersonation scam. Those centers are accused of stealing $150,000 per day for up to a year from victims. Authorities are investigating an additional 630 people for involvement as well. Unfortunately, however, the owners of the call centers appear to have escaped. It is believed that they had accomplices in the United States. This will also be further investigated.
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