Reply to major IRS phone scam- my MIL almost got taken!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP's MIL sounds like an idiot.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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