Apparently the IRS phone scam thing is profitable enough to employ a lot of people in large call centers in India.
Has anyone here received a call from these jerkwads?
My 87 year old mother-in-law got two phone messages from a place like this. She called me, I Googled it, and told her to ignore it.
Her message said she was going to be arrested if she didn’t pay.
I’ve had a few of those messages on my cheap-ass flip phone.
I have, & I’m positive that the only reason I got my refund a few months ago was so that I’d have the money to pay them. Nope, the gubmint would never withhold a requested refund if I owed them money. :rolleyes:
BTW, WSJ link is paywalled.
Drat! Maybe Time’s story won’t be.
Good. I’ve gotten a few calls like this. The last time it happened it was a computerized voice rather than a human with a semi-passable “American” accent.
Hmm. How to make the punishment fit the crime here? How about 5 years in solitary with piped-in Muzak 24/7.
I haven’t got a call, but a friend who is an actual IRS employee recently got one.
I don’t answer numbers I don’t recognize, but I’ve had some threatening voice mails left by “The IRS” - yeah, I worried. :rolleyes:
Those people piss me off - you only get a recorded message, so you can’t play them like the Windows Company jerkwads. (I wonder if they are the same scumbags.)
But I haven’t gotten anything from either since we upgraded our phone and turned on NoMoRoBo.
I’ve gotten so many, sometimes 2-3 in the same day.
I’m not celebrating though, these scammers are like hydras, cut off one head and two take its place.
It wasn’t, a few hours ago.
The WSJ was paywalled for me - so I copied the title, went to google news (my homepage), pasted in the title and “searched news”.
When I clicked on the link to WSJ, the paywall was gone.
(if linked to by google, most places will let you in)
I got one call a few weeks ago. The dude reading the script was TERRIBLE. No acting ability at all - he was truly phoning it in.
“My name is Agent Jones. Of the… I. R. S. You have… a tax bill that must be, uh, settled immediately. If you do not do as I tell–”
I never say rude things to run-of-the-mill telemarketers, but I responded “Go fuck yourself” and hung up.
I’ve received several calls from Indian scammers claiming to be with Microsoft tech support. There aren’t even any Windows boxes in this household. I told them off each time.
The jeerkwads that call me are mostly Americans, who sometimes represent agencies that are exempt from the DNC registry.
I don’t care if you’re exempt – my number is stil on the DNC which means I won’t want you to call me, and it would be just common civil decency for you to respect that. Since the DNC violations are never prosecuted and probably never even investigated, in fact not even paid attention to when reported into some black hole of bureaucracy, it is not relevant whether the jerkwads are acting illegally or immorally. I don’t want them to call, they know that, they call anyway.
Jerkwads in India,Nigeria, etc. are ordinary working stiffs trying to support their families in a country where decent jobs are hard, if not impossible, to come by. I can at least have a little sympathy for them. Imagine that – some other country exploiting America, instead of the other way around. Oh, the horror.
I’m actually impressed (while still seething and hateful, of course) at the advances in telemarketer robot AI and recording styles. I’ve had several calls where the recorded snippets sound “live” (for lack of a better term) and the voice actors sound extremely natural. They also had a more sophisticated script “tree”, with a lot of different responses to choose from, making it feel more realistic. Maddening but fascinating at the same time.
Answered one call in which they actually wanted my son; told me that if I could settle the arrears immediately they would be able to re-call the sheriff’s deputy who was at that moment on the way to his office to arrest him for non-payment. Obviously this was a scam, but out of curiousity, I asked for details, and they referenced specific amounts for specific years but refused to tell me the case number—that would be available once I paid the several thousand dollars to halt the procedure. Caller [no obvious accent] gave me ‘his’ name, said if I had doubts, I could check on the IRS website or call their local office, but if I didn’t have the case number, they wouldn’t have the information or be able to do anything; and, again, nope, number not available without payment. Vigorously rejected my accusation of being a scam, pleaded with me not to embarrass my son and our family and incur further expenses through my unwarranted suspicions. I don’t recall which of us hung up on the other.
The opening spiel was, in fact, scary, and I can understand how folks might well be frightened into paying them. I’ve subsequently had at least half a dozen messages left that I and my attorney must contact them [at several different numbers] because the IRS is bringing suit against me, perhaps because I did answer that one time, or simply because it’s the scam of the moment.
Yeah, b/c they got you to talk w/ them they’ve sold your number as a live one to other scammers.
Those they busted were bringing in over $200K a day.