Austin man gets an IRS phone scammer's call

Here’s a warning from the IRS with tax season upon us. There have been several reports of phone scams.
Rick L'amie got a call with a local area code just a few days ago. But it wasn't what he was expecting to hear on that call.

"The reason I am trying to reach you is in reference to a legal case and a federal complaint," the caller said.

“They needed to talk to me about an urgent matter with the IRS and I needed to turn myself in or call a number,” L’amie said.

For a few minutes he thought the call was legitimate and was concerned.

"You can speak with an Officer, Steven White at 202-754-8371," the caller said.

Out of curiosity, he called the number they told him to call.

“The same guy answered the phone and said let me transfer you. He put me on hold, it was a funky hold sounding music, and I realized right then when I heard this weird music and people talking this is probably not the IRS.

Once they asked for a social security number he really knew he was being scammed. He then, starting asking questions.

“I need to know more about this. If this is the IRS what kinds of violations are you talking about? Why would you need to be talking to me? Give me more information,” L’amie said.

L'amie says the caller became angry and hung up. According to the IRS website, they say scammers often make calls demanding money and they often scare victims by threatening them with police action, all things that happened to L’amie.

“Be sure you're safe. It would be a shame if anybody else had this happen to them,” he said.

The IRS will not call you until after mailing several letters to you.
According to IRS.gov, there have been more than 700,000 phone scams since 2013, and it has cost victims $23 million altogether.