The caller said that he was from the Department of Treasury and that the IRS is about to file a delinquent case against me. He asked whether I have a lawyer and I said no but could easily get one. I told him that he has the wrong person because we do not have a big income and have been filing our taxes religiously.

Informational post:

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the country.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded 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 pre-paid 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 toll-free 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.
   If you’ve been targeted by this scam, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov.  Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.

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 e-mail tophishing@irs.gov.

More information on how to report phishing scams involving the IRS is available on the genuine IRS website, IRS.gov.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterate ... -Telephone-Scam

Left a message from "Officer Judy Smith" pf the US Treasury saying that I had a case filed against me in federal court regarding taxes, and that i was in danger of being arrested if I did not call them immediately.  Synthesized voice. I did not call them back so I don't know what they would have asked for.

Well, they would tell you that they are th IRS and all sorts of things will now happen to you because of some error on your taxes.  However, they'll also say they can make the whole thingo away if you just wire them some money by an untraceable means.  Absolute scam.  See my  notes.

They left an official sounding message this morning from this phone number saying they were from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The guy who answered has a  heavy accent and said the IRS was trying to reach me because of tax fraud. He gave me a made-up case ID number and arrest warrant number and said the Sheriff would be at my house within 45 minutes to arrest me and I would be in jail for months, if not years. I asked him what the purpose of his call was, and he said just to inform me of the legal case against me. (Other callers said he asked them to go to the local grocery and get gift cards to pay this off debt.) Don't fall for this. I called and reported the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. This guy is a scumbag with apparently time on his hands to hassle people.