Is anybody else getting calls like this? A robot, trying hard to sound like a lawyer but failing miserably, suggesting I call them before I get dragged off to jail and/or hauled in to court. Here’s a transcript of a voicemail for your amusement:
"…filings from the headquarters which will get expired in the next 24 working hours and once expired after that you will be taken under custody by the local cops as there are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment. We would you to get back to us so that we can discuss about this case before taking any legal action against you…The number to reach us is: "
“Get expired”? “Local cops”? “Discuss about this case”? Jeez, could at they least hire spammers who speak English? Or have watched lawyer shows on TV?
I haven’t heard of that one. But there’s another around here in which the message says your utilities are about to be cut off due to non-payment. If you don’t pay now, over the phone, with a card, someone will be out in two hours to shut you off. Some bozos have fallen for this way too obvious scam.
I’m getting similar calls on both my cell and office numbers. There are two variants: one from the IRS and one from Canada Revenue Agency; otherwise the scripts are identical.
They claim to have a “charge again my name” for tax fraud in front of “a Magistrate judge”, which does not exist in Ontario.
I don’t answer numbers I don’t recognize, and more than once, my voice mail has captured the last part of a message from the “IRS” threatening me. I haven’t been arrested yet.
Somebody (on here?) told me that badly written 419 spam is a feature, not a bug, because they want to filter out everyone who is not an idiot before committing any greater effort to the process of extracting money. I don’t know if that’s giving them too much credit.
Yes, I get these from time to time. I block the number and I can see when they subsequently tried and got blocked. They will try for several days, multiple times a day until at last, they give up.
I was getting the calls from the guys with super thick Indian/Pakistani accents who were claiming to be from “Dell Support” a couple of years ago, too. They were really hard to get stopped as well. I would hang up, play dumb, cuss them out, leave the phone on the table while I talked kitty-speak to my cats, not answer, block the number only to have them call back on another one…they finally got the clue I wasn’t a good mark.
One of my more recent calls telling me I’m about to get sued claimed I owed almost 2 BILLION dollars to the IRS. Like that’s gonna scare me. Wait till it gets to 10 or 20 BILLION.
I’ve found a couple of messages on my cell, both from a guy claiming to be a process server or something. I’ve not been completely able to understand the messages. This one might be legit: he only calls once a day and references a case number, which belongs to someone who isn’t me, and hasn’t called back in a few days.
We used to get them before we got NoMoRobo, which works great.
My cell almost never gets any calls like this, but my wife’s does. She has found an app which crowd sources spam numbers, so if the call comes from a number which has been used before, it gets blocked. If not, you can add it. Has cut down the numbers quite a bit.
Scammers somehow get enough information from a data breach to file a false return in your name that even includes a legitimate bank account you have access to or your address to send the “refund” check to.
They then contact you pretending to be a collection agency or the IRS, and demand that you transfer the money “back” to what turns out to be the scammers, not the IRS. Since they know the exact amount and in many cases even which bank account it was deposited in, they can do a good job of convincing people they are legit.
However, the principle that the IRS still does not contact you initially by phone remains a red flag for spotting this scam
There is a barely-legal scheme around now where collection firms buy up old, delinquent accounts for a few pennies on the dollar, then attempt to collect, keeping all they can get. Many of these accounts are beyond the statute of limitations time, are fraudulent, or otherwise faulty, which doesn’t deter the collectors, who use strong-arm tactics, and often add on fake charges and fees. I guess it works, sometimes – enough to keep them in business. Dirty business.
The CFPB used to pursue these under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act; it could be a fine of up to $5000 each offense. But now that the CFPB is not funded and is run by a person who wants to get rid of it no one can reasonably expect federal protection from unscrupulous debt collectors.
I occasionally get calls from a “Comcast debt collections representative” attempting to get my credit card number to pay a $245.00 balance it’s claimed I owe on my California account (I left Cali in 2005). When I ask for my account number and to speak to their superior, the call is mysteriously dropped. There are no collections on my credit report, so it’s a scam.
I recently read about scammers masquerading as IRS agents demanding immediate payment on delinquent taxes. The “agent” threatens to contact local police if the debt isn’t immediately paid – apparently many senior citizens have lost money because they’re terrified that the cops are coming to collect.
Recently I’ve received texts from unfamiliar phone numbers advertising “XANAX AND ADURALL AT BEST PRICE FREE SHIPING.” Yeah, no on that.
I keep getting calls from “Credit Card Support” or offering me a free vacation because I just spent time at their resort (which I had not done) which are coming from the same area code and first three digits of my own cell phone number, so I know they’re spoofing the real number and I just stopped answering them.
That spoofing algorithm is real common now. Looking at the supposed numbers of the calls that NoMoRobo blocks you would think that 3/4 of the people in my exchange and scammers and/or telemarketers.
