PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – The IRS scammers are back and this time they are making threatening phone calls insisting that the IRS has filed a legal claim against you. This scam is happening nationwide, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
News4Jax spoke to a Ponte Vedra man who was receiving the threatening calls Wednesday evening. The man lives in a retirement neighborhood and said the scammers called his house phone.
James Cole said the scammers are very determined.
"They are very aggressive. They called about three times actually all today so they're not giving up easily," Cole said.
Cole said he was just finishing up his taxes when he received what seemed like an urgent call from the IRS.
"It was a message saying that I was being investigated by the IRS, said that I needed to respond to the phone call, to the IRS hotline and they gave me the number," said Cole. "And it matched the number that was on the screen."
But Cole said he's familiar with the government, and even though the number called him from Washington, D.C., he knew the threatening voice mail had to be a scam.
The alleged scammer called Cole and left this message:
"There is a legal case filed by IRS against your name. Before IRS takes any legal action against your name, you need to call us back on the IRS hotline number, 240-200-9865. I repeat 240-200-9865. Make sure you do not disregard this message and to return the IRS call."
Fortunately Cole did not call the number back and he called the IRS directly to confirm this was a scam.
If this same scam happens to you, the IRS recommends you record the employee's name, badge number, call back number and caller ID if available. Then, call 800-366-4484 to determine if the caller is an IRS employee with a legitimate need to contact you.
For more information, click here.