Sep 3, 2015
This is the recording I received to my cell phone which is also my business phone:
"This is regards to an enforcement action by the US Treasury intending your serious attention. Ignoring this will be an additional second attempt to avoid initial appearance before a magistrate judge or the grand jury for a federal criminal offense. I advise you to cooperate with us and help us to help you. Thank you and have a blessed day.”
I returned the call. I was suspicious right away because of the "Thank you and have a blessed day” end to the voicemail. That didn’t seem very IRS like. A woman with an East Indian accent answered and told me the call would be recorded for quality and that anything I said would go on record. I was suspicious again because I can’t even get a human to answer directly when I call Home Depot. There’s always walls of menu options and recorded voices to reach a human these days.
I explained that I had received a voicemail and that I didn’t understand what it was about. She asked if this was Mary and I said yes. She proceeded to tell me that I needed to go downtown and turn myself in for tax fraud because my 2012 and 2013 returns weren’t filed correctly and I owed more money.
I said “I’m sorry, I still just don’t understand, I haven’t ever heard of this before. Can you please explain it to me again? She said the same thing again only this time added that I could choose to hire a criminal attorney, pay up to $17,000 in court fees and if I lose end up in a "big legal mess.”
Strike 3, an IRS rep wouldn’t use this phrasing.
I said “I need to call my accountant because this just doesn’t make sense and I don’t see how there could be any problems with my filed returns. She interrupted “You don’t need to call your accountant! Your accountant isn't the one that’ll be behind bars!” I replied, “Wait I can be arrested??!?!!” She said “Yeeeeeessssssss you WILL be arrested if you do not go downtown right now and turn yourself in or take care of this.” (That didn’t make any sense) Again I said, “I need to call my accountant and I guess a lawyer."
At this point I have forgotten most of what she said because it was so fast and aggressive that I think I shut down and freaked out a little. Yet I also knew that IRS people wouldn’t threaten and bully in this manner. She threatened that all my assets would be seized for up to three months while in trial, that I could risk losing everything and more…
I then walked over to my computer and started taking notes. I said “Look you don’t need to be mean about this. I have never heard of any of this and…” She cut me off again and went off again so I said “You know what? I think we’re having a cultural difficulty here. She said “This call is being recorded!” I said “Yes, I’m aware and I haven’t said anything I’m ashamed of. I need to speak with your supervisor please, you and I are not well matched here.” With some smart [***] tone she informed me that she was also the supervisor. She kept rambling, I felt suspicious, and now I wanted more information. “If you’re the supervisor then you need to answer my questions without interrupting me every time I speak. (I stopped counting how many strikes/red flags we were up to now)
So I asked “Why haven’t I received anything in the mail?” She said that a CP503 PUBLIC NOTICE was sent out in June and again at the end of June. I explained that I have received mail in the past without any difficulty but I hadn’t received this. I don’t remember if I asked how much was due or if she offered but what I do remember is my reaction. “$1,298" I said “You are bullying me over $1,298??????!!!!!!!!”
With her nasty attitude she explained that it didn’t matter if it was $1,000 or $10,000, I am facing criminal charges and I can either take care of it, she will mail me forms, or I can get arrested and hire a criminal attorney. Now I’m certain it’s a scam. (Reading this you might be wondering why I didn’t know it was a scam sooner. I am a person that is a wee bit intimidated by IRS, DMV type institutions - the result of growing up homeless and afraid)
Armed with my 90% certainty that I was being punked I asked “Ok which address do I mail my check to?” She replied with MY old work address. Clearly she didn’t understand me. I said, “That is a very old business address for me, I have never received any tax documents there so how did you get that address?” CLICK
Oh HELLLLLL no. So, I called back. Instead of terrified now I was pissed. I wanted to play along and get more intel on this scam. I was disconnected when I called. I called again, no one said anything so I said “Hello” a few times. She finally said “Hello?” and I said “Ok I called my lawyer…” and she replied “You called your lawyer? Ok the cops are on their way!” and hung up again. I’ve since been blocked from calling.
My boyfriend sent me this link: http://www.419eater.com
I HOPE sharing my story helps someone because that was a terrible experience!!!! I cannot imagine what it would be like for someone that’s more fragile - they could seriously go off or jump off a bridge with how scary she was!
Anyway, an intense and interesting 11 minutes. Pass the word!