Largest phone scam in IRS history

The scam phone calls are coming to Island Park, Oceanside, Nassau County, New York State, all over the nation, claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and demanding money.

“We do not call you. We do not send you e-mails demanding money. If you get one it is a scam,” said Internal Revenue spokeswoman Patricia Svarnas, talking about the IRS phone impersonation scam so large that it was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee Hearing on March 12.

Committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said,“The committee meets today to hear about growing criminal activity that is targeting taxpayers across the country. These criminal acts are perpetrated by thieves hiding behind telephone lines and computers, preying on honest taxpayers and robbing the Treasury of tens of billions of dollars every year.”

Testifying before the committee, Timothy Camus said “The number of complaints we have received about these scams make it the largest, most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of our agency.” His office, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Adminstration, also known as TIGTA, has received over 366,000 reports of these calls. “As of March 9, more than 3,000 people have fallen victim to the scam, sending criminals $15.5 million,” Camus said, over $1.3 million in New York alone.

“They are calling from overseas, and they route the calls over the Internet or from location to location around the world so they cannot be traced,” Svarnas explained how the scam works. They call stating they are from the IRS, that you owe money, and they threaten you.” It might be the loss of your driver’s license, your home, your bank account, or calling the police if you hang up. They may have your social security number, your address, and names of family members. Sometimes the callers are recorded, not live.They say the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you, then give you a number to call. They may even send bogus e-mails to support the scam, and have fake web sites that look like the IRS.