# IRS Phone Scam (Again?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246 "2016-06-24T15:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/1 "2016-06-24T15:54:39Z")
I know there have been discussions of IRS Phone Scams before, but I have a question I don’t believe has been addressed; I get several recorded phone calls a day from the IRS telling me I’m in trouble and leaving a number they insist that I call immediately. I hear this is going around, even to the point of claiming “The Sheriff is on his way to your home now.” I have not called back to the given number but am presuming it is real (else why would they leave a message?) Is it real? If so can’t ‘the authorities’ trace it back and do something about it? (Power tools and boiling oil come to mind, to start.) These people would appear to be falsely representing IRS agents - is that a Federal crime? More reason to go after them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/2 "2016-06-24T15:59:28Z")
Can’t be traced. It’s trivially easy to fake the number the call is coming from (unless it’s from inside the house!)and they’re outside the country anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/3 "2016-06-24T16:00:36Z")
Yes, it’s real. As in it’s really a scam. In reality, the [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/phone-scams-continue-to-be-a-serious-threat-remain-on-irs-dirty-dozen-list-of-tax-scams-for-the-2016-filing-season) would have sent you a letter first. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/4 "2016-06-24T16:05:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Can’t be traced. It’s trivially easy to fake the number the call is coming from… **UncleFred’s** not asking about the number they’re calling from, but the number they leave for you to call so as to reach them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/5 "2016-06-24T16:06:33Z")
Google the number and see if any scam reports pop up. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/6 "2016-06-24T16:09:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Google the number and see if any scam reports pop up. We know it’s a scam. The question is, given a phone number that you would call to reach them, can that number be used to locate or pursue them? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/7 "2016-06-24T16:19:44Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > We know it’s a scam. The question is, given a phone number that you would call to reach them, can that number be used to locate or pursue them? That’s why I’m saying google the number: Someone may have already done the legwork. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/8 "2016-06-24T16:43:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s why I’m saying google the number: Someone may have already done the legwork. Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/9 "2016-06-24T17:51:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Yes, it’s real. As in it’s really a scam. In reality, the [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/phone-scams-continue-to-be-a-serious-threat-remain-on-irs-dirty-dozen-list-of-tax-scams-for-the-2016-filing-season) would have sent you a letter first. That may be true, but the scam notes that you have failed to respond to their earlier entreaties, making you think that you missed the notification somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/10 "2016-06-24T17:58:55Z")
After logging these kinds of calls over a few months, I have noticed that the numbers may be active for only a few days. Last month’s “IRS” callers can no longer be reached on the numbers they left. I can only suppose they do that to make it even harder to trace. Not that it matters, they appear to be in Pakistan or India anyway, out of reach of US laws and law enforcement. Complaints I have made to FTC and state attorneys general have generated the response, “We don’t know how to find them, and we’re not working on it.” Perhaps they have better things to do than catch crooks that so easily come into our homes. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/11 "2016-06-24T19:36:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Can’t be traced. It’s trivially easy to fake the number the call is coming from Not to the systems the phone companies use for billing. Of course, that information isn’t available to you, the average customer. > [@](#): > > and they’re outside the country anyway. Probably true. Tracing them would be easy and pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/12 "2016-06-24T20:44:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Yes, it’s real. As in it’s really a scam. In reality, the [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/phone-scams-continue-to-be-a-serious-threat-remain-on-irs-dirty-dozen-list-of-tax-scams-for-the-2016-filing-season) would have sent you a letter first. The IRS will never call you on the phone just out of the blue. You will always be notified by mail about any problem and that will include their contact information. If you initiate contact after being notified you may be contacted but still usually by mail. If you ignore the letter they mail you, you will still not be contacted by phone. They will try mail several more times and if you don’t respond they will just move you into the refused file, and later there will be other contact or actions. If you receive a notice and then contact the IRS about your problem you will be seen to have acknowledged the issue. If you set up a payment plan you can pick the amount that you will repay each month and leave you alone. If anyone calls you and says they are from the IRS, just ask them to send the relevant information in the mail. They already have your address. Or do what I did the last time I got one of these scam calls. I told the guy with the Indian accent to have his mother pay the bill. Because I knew she was still sucking cock for a living. He hung up. You can set up a $50 per month payment plan that will take years to pay off and they will they leave you alone. They will capture any future refunds until your dept is fulfilled. If you really do owe the IRS money, and you contact them and set up some kind of plan, they can be very polite. Because your case will be moved out of the problem file and into the being paid category. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-phone-scam-again/758246/13 "2016-06-25T04:43:55Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > We know it’s a scam. The question is, given a phone number that you would call to reach them, can that number be used to locate or pursue them? Not really. Either they are only in operation for a few days before switching to a new number, or they are located outside the USA (there are numbers with area codes that look like US ones, but are actually in other countries). So even if they traced them, the scammers can’t be effectively prosecuted.