I'm Really Screwed
Got a scam call yesterday. It was a guy claiming he's from the IRS. He had a heavy accent--sounded like he was from India--and didn't act like a government official (not that the IRS would call me directly--they'd probably send a notice first) and I was ready to hang up on him immediately, but the one in a thousand chance it was real kept me on the line a while. (That's why the government is so scary. Say what you want about big corporations, only the government can come and arrest you.)
The new guy was quite hostile. He said he worked for the IRS and I'd committed a crime. I'd defrauded the government and owed money, and might be facing jail time. For the record, the regulation I broke was #7869126532-RER. I asked him who he was and he said he already told me. Then he said--I couldn't understand it all clearly--that I better act quickly since my assets would be frozen, my employer would be notified, my passport would be taken and I could be deported. (Aha! They discovered I was an immigrant. Sure, I've been in America almost all my life, but I was born in Canada. These scams often involve preying on this fear.)
Then he said I would be arrested within the hour. I think he was about to make a deal when I'd finally had enough--I said I'd call my lawyer and they could talk to him. I don't have a lawyer, but I wouldn't have called him anyway. I considered calling the government hotline to report what happened, but what could I tell them except it was another scam call. I don't have caller ID and even if I did I'm sure they've got a way to cover it up and make it look like it's from a government office. I thought the scamsters might call back, but I guess I made it clear by my demeanor that I wasn't buying it, and they went on to the next name on the list.
Or maybe the Feds will be showing up soon and this will be the last post I put up for a while.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:04 AM
4 Comments:
There's no doubt you're guilty of something, so take heart.
Sounds like a tea party scam to inflame the faithful
No, this has Occupy Wall Street written all over it.
I used to follow a web site on scam baiting. They were folks who (as a hobby), pretend to be taken in when contacted by scam artists on the phone or by email. Their goal is to see how long they can string along the scammers. A real victory is if you can get them to expend resources on you - fed expressing information to an address or somethig like that. They then post the email threads for everyone to see.
I can't find the site I used to look at, but here is one if you are interested: http://www.419eater.com/
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