If you get a call from the IRS, just HANG UP!

[Grammy23]

16. We got that call several weeks ago..

Our policy is to never answer calls from numbers we do not recognize or says Private Caller or Unknown Caller. So when we got the call from a number we didn't know, the answer machine picked up. Much to our surprise the caller left a message. Said it was Internal Revenue Services calling because we owed money and needed to call back ASAP. The caller had a slightly menacing tone and suggested we were in serious trouble if we did not call back immediately.

Due to reading about scams, this had all the earmarks of a scam. I checked online at several Who Calls Me sites and there were many callers who said the same thing. When they called back they were told they owed a specific amount of money. When they told the "IRS" person they did not have that much money, they immediately offered to lower the price. Many people played along just to screw with the scammers. Often they were told that the police were on their way to arrest the person if they said they did not have the money. I can only imagine an elderly person being frightened by this tactic and sending money to these thieves.

There ought to be a way to stop these people but because most are out of the US, it is harder to find and stop their fraudulent activity

The simple solution is to not answer calls from unknown callers. Legitimate callers will leave a message so you can call back. The IRS does not do business by calling you directly to tell you that you owe money.