It's A Scammy Day

I got two calls yesterday from the IRS.  Well, maybe not the IRS, but a robo-voice claiming is was the IRS.  They said it was my final warning about a lawsuit they were filing against me.



Final notice?  I didn't remember the first notice--though I guess the first call of two was that.

I suppose I should call the number they gave me to clear this up.  I'll certainly give them any information they ask for--I don't want trouble.

The message I got was exactly the same as the video above except the phone number they gave me was different.  How many numbers do these people own?  It was a Delaware area code.  Hey, isn't that the place where they do all that incorporating?  Maybe this is for real.

Earlier this year I got a live call from the "IRS" telling me I was in trouble and they're sending the cops over right away.  I listened for a few minutes thinking there's a less than 1% chance this is authentic, but do I want to hang up if it is?  Finally I got tired of it (and the people I talked to were surprisingly abusive) and ended the call.

I got another call with someone telling me he could fix my computer problems.  I'd been having trouble with my computer, incidentally, but that's not so uncommon.  Anyway, I played along as I googled the directions he was giving me so I could make sure it was a scam.  Which of course it was.

How did I get on this list?  More important, how do I get off?  There should be a scam call that promises to get me off the list if I'll just give them my credit card and social security number.

PS Amazingly, as I was writing this, a pop-up screen with a loud warning buzzer appeared saying I had a serious problem with my computer, and to call a number they provided for help.  I might have ignored it, except last month I got this message at every website I went on telling me to call my cable company to make sure I get a new modem--and it turned out to be legit. (And why not--they charged me for the modem, after all.  Maybe it's just a different sort of scam.)

Anyway, the pop-up number was toll free, so I figured I'd check it out, even though I was almost certain it was a fake. They were very helpful, wanting to access my computer remotely to fix things.  My curiosity sated, I hung up.  However, I couldn't get rid of up pop-up, so I shut things down and rebooted.

Now I need to run a virus scan. I hope that will be enough.

PPS  I just got another call from the "IRS." These robocalls are especially annoying since you can't talk back to them.