Jan 10, 2015
I received a call today from this number accusing me of tax evasion. I freaked out because the circumstances they outlined were oddly similar to mine (not that I have done anything illegal) so although I know this was a scam now, I am afraid since they seem to know something about me. Could they find out something about my tax status without my knowledge? The initial message was from Kevin Smith. I called the number & spoke to someone who said I had failed to file taxes for a certain number of years and that "(unintelligible) was misrepresented for the past 3 years". Upon finishing his "speech" he said "are you willing to let me help you". I explained that I had no income and therefore owed no taxes, he asked for the year I became unable to pay taxes. I told him what I could remember and he said he would look into it. I said "tell me what to do to straighten this out and get the proper information on record" he said "you seem very genuine and I will verify this information and call you back". A few minutes later I realized that I had given him an incorrect year so I called back to correct it. A different individual answered and seemed completely unaware that I had already called back once. He was also very threatening but when I insisted on only giving him the correct year to pass along "for the record" he said he would "call back in a little while". Both men had strong Indian/Pakistani accents and said they were call from "a IRS". I feel so very stupid for falling for it initially, but they preyed on my fears (still feel stupid). They seemed to know information about me, which also helped convince me they were legitimate. Fortunately, the second call back convinced me that they could be scammers. I called the IRS, which seems like a fraud in itself! Each number gave me 10 different numbers to call or a menu with 6 options, leading to another menu with six options, leading to an announcement telling me I had to wait 30-60 minutes! I hung up, went online and punched the phone number in and found it was a landline from Verizon. I then looked up IRS scams, and was directed to the FTC site where I had an online chat with a representative who couldn't tell if it was legit or not. They suggested I call an FTC counselor, who took the complaint (but didn't counsel me much). She told me that the IRS would PROBABLY send me a registered letter first. I explained that I found a registered letter notice on my front lawn, in the snow that had a respond by date of two weeks prior to the date I found it! (thank you US postal service). She told me to relax. I can't relax since I NEVER usually fall for this crap. Why does the IRS fraud site say they "USUALLY" send a letter first? That invites the possibility that they MIGHT not! Why isn't there a easier, direct way to find out that kind of information? I have now spent an entire afternoon on this stupid thing (including writing this long, I'm sorry, post about what happened). I want to stop these people. I have a disease that is directly affected by stress/emotions. These B******s have now not only stressed me out and scared me but they have physically hurt me! Lets get the word out and stop them now. Lets try and get the IRS to list a number devoted to these scams only! Lets try and convince the IRS to say FOR SURE they will send a letter to a taxpayer FIRST if there is a problem! Maybe it would help if there was a way to file a complaint in one place online that would then be forwarded to all relevant agencies (just a thought).