This quick post was necessitated by scam callers…again.

I wanted to make you, my faithful readers, aware of an ongoing telephone scam. This time the call was from people posing as the IRS.

Yesterday, a lovely recorded woman told me if I didn’t pay the money I owed, the IRS would come to my house, seize my property and sell off my assets to pay the bill. There were a few more sentences filled with aggressive and angry actions to be taken against me if I failed to comply immediately. Yada, yada, yada.

Then, being the super nice and helpful entity she was, she gave me a toll-free number — four or five times — to call to straighten this out. Because we all know, none of us wants to have our assets seized.

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HOW SCAMMERS FAKE YOU OUT

From an article (IRS Reiterates Warning of Pervasive Telephone Scam) at www.irs.gov:

“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.”

WHAT THE IRS SAYS TO DO

From the same IRS article:

“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.
• You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.”

If you wish to report these types of scams, you can at www.irs.gov by typing “scam” in the search box.

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I hope you feel empowered now to deal with those annoying, and just plain mean, scammer phone calls.

Holiday Blessings, and thanks again for following Patti’s Pathways. 😀

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RELATED POSTS: Microsoft Won’t Call You…EVER!; How To Spot A Hoax Email

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DISCLAIMER: Any and all ideas presented in this blog are solely my own unless otherwise noted. I experience troubles with technology just like any other person, and if I stumble upon a fix or suggestion I feel could benefit others I pass it along. At no time, have I suggested or implied that I hold any degrees or certificates related to computer repair.

I have during my career assembled parts into working computers; done troubleshooting on hardware and software; utilized a great many computer programs and software; designed and updated websites and blogs; as well as created brochures, banners, and flyers.