major IRS phone scam- my MIL almost got taken!

[Anonymous]

My MIL almost got taken to the tune of $3000 by a very aggressive but (she now sees) absurdly unconvincing phone scammer recently. I just found out about this today, and Im more than bit pissed off that this is happening to people and that my MIL chose not to call me or her daughter IMMEDIATELY when this came in. I dont have time to go into the details now about how it unfolded, but here is the press release warning about this scam, its scope and level of sophistication. My MIL did not actually get the most sophisticated tactics, but the threats as outlined here were all there. JUST AWFUL STUFF. I impressed on my MIL that we are here to protect her from this kind of crap, and that as a senior citizen she is a target and needs to remember that if it sounds fishy, no matter how scary, to hang up and call us right away! They basically bullied her on the cell phone into not hanging up and actually going to the bank and withdrawing cash while keeping her on the phone with threats of having her drivers license revoked! NUTS! The people at safeway where she was instructed to go to get a payment voucher or something alerted her to it being a scam, and to call MOCO police, who of course knew about it but took down no details from her. The press release outlines what one is supposed to do if a call like this comes in.

Here is the press release from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. It took me a grand total of 1 second to find with a google search: http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/press/press_tigta-2014-03.htm

Just I wanted to get this out there ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! that is just awful! good for those safeway employees!

[Anonymous]

Yes, the IRS never calls or emails. They send letters. This just happened to someone in my office. They did not fall for it thankfully but they were scared for a minute!

There are also people calling claiming to be from "Windows" wanting to fix your computer. Often with a very thick Indian accent. Their hope is for you to let them take over your computer to "fix" it so they can hijack personal info and steal your identity. You better warn your MIL about these scammers too! I know at least five people who have received these calls and I just got my very own this evening. I think there was another post on here about this, but just FYI.

[Anonymous]

OP- thanks about that reminder about the windows caller. I got one of those calls too. I think more than once. I told them I have no computer and hung up. I used to get weird persisten calls from someone with an indian accent claming to call from Washington Gas. The last time I told him gas is against is my religion and hung up. That seemed to work.

[Anonymous]

I got a voicemail from one of those IRS fraudsters! I knew it had to be a scam because I've never used that phone number on any of my tax forms (it was the landline to our new rental house - I honestly don't even know the number, I just use it to call out). I was tempted to call back just to see what they'd say, but had second thoughts about interacting with any scam artists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a voicemail from one of those IRS fraudsters! I knew it had to be a scam because I've never used that phone number on any of my tax forms (it was the landline to our new rental house - I honestly don't even know the number, I just use it to call out). I was tempted to call back just to see what they'd say, but had second thoughts about interacting with any scam artists.

After I received such a voicemail, I started reading other people's stories on the Internet. When people call them back, the fraudsters will say that unless you pay them right away, they'll send a policeman to your house to arrest you, and one of them even said he is sending a sniper to the caller's home. These are very bad crooks, there is no pleasure in talking to them.

[Anonymous]

Got contacted by them several times too! I think I scared them off bc they've been quiet for a week.

[Anonymous]

By the 100th call (including everything from IRS judgement against me to an arrest warrant), I started to recognize their style so here is how it went:

The Indian accent caller: Are you Mrs Sarah Lara-Cora Smith?
Me: Are you David Copper from the IRS?
I hear a woman laughing in the background.
The Indian accent caller: OM..... No. Thank you.

He hanged up and I have not heard from him for a while now. I kind of miss him (a little).

[Anonymous]

I had the Windows call a few days ago. Given that I do desktop tech support for a living, I just laughed really loudly, said, "Nice try," and hung up.

[Anonymous]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROHK0aTkCsY

OP here- this is one of my favorite clips, its a guy pranking a persistent telemarketer. Its freakin hilarious. There is also a 16 minute unedited version, but this gives you a taste.

[Anonymous]

We got a call from the scammers. Ridiculous. At the time DH was working for DOJ, representing the IRS in court. LOL!

[Anonymous]

OP's MIL sounds like an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's MIL sounds like an idiot.

OP here. The thing is, technically she is not an idiot. In fact my FIL kept telling her that it sounded like a scam. But the way the scammers work is through threats and intimidation. Somehow he was led along for the ride, literally, because the threats worked on my MIL.

I think there are many people who hear the word IRS and get very scared. MY MIL has not filed her taxes for this year and so has it in part of her head somewhere that she has done something wrong. Also, she has been showing some beginning signs of increased confusion and forgetfulness not entirely unrelated to her age of 78. I think seniors would be possibly more likely to fall for this, and ONCE FEAR SETS IN then the normal critical thinking flow chart does not set in.

Then again I do question her critical thinking capacity in general because she tends to believe everything she hears, unless, of course, it contradicts what she has heard before. She is an avid online and TV shopper, and buys and takes supplements based on claims with no regard for safety or looking into it more, etc.

So part of me is still grappling with the "idiot" question, or rather, as I would put it, "fool". Both my inlaws are very educated but boy, do they not use their heads sometimes. This just seems to be the most egregious example.

The stark reality is they would have been out $3000 had the people at Safeway not alerted her to this not sounding right. The scammer was on the CELL PHONE WITH HER TELLING HER SHE COULD NOT HANG UP because the call was being recorded and was proof of her compliance, and if she did not comply they would contact the MVA and revoke her license. As if MVA and IRS work together on these things. (UGH) Anywa,y my MIL finally "grew a pair" and hung up. They called back immediately claiming to be the MVA and that they were contacted by the IRS and they were going to revoke her license. She said go ahead and hung up again.

If you read the link to the PDF I posted you will see this scam has worked on thousands and over a million dollars has been collectively scammed so far.

THE FINAL KICK IN THE HEAD: I told her she should post this to the website provided by the IRS and she said "I dont want them digging around in my taxes and so I am not going to be talking about it with them. I just want to forget it ever happened."

So I think the reason this scam work is precisely because it is NOT logical, and instead is PANIC INDUCING in a lot of people. No Logic Needed.