St. Joseph News-Press - Senators focus on scam with IRS impersonators

By: Ken Newton

A growing impersonation scam, with hustlers claiming to represent the Internal Revenue Service, can be short-circuited with a simple step, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says.

Don't take the call.

"I'm going to say something to the American people that should warm their hearts: If you get a call out of the blue from the IRS, don't answer it," she said at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Trouble is, some people have taken the calls, maybe as many as 434,000 Americans. And the scammers have defrauded victims out of nearly $15 million, including $112,000 from Missourians, according to government estimates.

The scheme got Capitol Hill attention this week at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, on which Ms. McCaskill serves as ranking member.

Though the panel on aging chose to investigate the problem, perpetrators using the IRS ruse have targeted a wide range of individuals, young and old. The inspector general of the IRS even reported getting one of the calls, the Missouri senator said.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, chairs the committee and said the fraud scheme has similarities to others investigated by the panel.

"But the IRS impersonation scam artists have added a pernicious twist," she said at the Wednesday hearing. "They are pretending to be government officials working for the IRS, a federal agency that makes many Americans apprehensive."

Ms. McCaskill added to that assessment. "All of us have a natural fear of the IRS," the Missourian said. "It is in our DNA as Americans."

The scam works like this.

Those who pick up the calls are told they owe back taxes and will be arrested if they do not pay immediately. They get instructions to purchase pre-paid debit cards, to fill the cards with cash and to give the callers the PIN numbers.

With this information, the scammers clear out the value of the cards. In some cases, the callers say that any attempt to disconnect will lead to a call from law enforcement, an affiliated set of fraudsters.

Ms. McCaskill said the IRS does not call individuals, only as a last resort after multiple mail attempts, and will never dictate a method of payment, like through a credit or debit card.

People concerned the call might be legitimate should hang up and call the IRS.

The senators pointed out that those perpetrating the scam use voice-over-Internet technology that enables them to "spoof" the caller ID and make it appear the IRS is calling from a Washington, D.C., area code. In reality, the callers are probably in another country, making a crackdown difficult.

Jason Moore, a police detective from Auburn, Maine, testified at the hearing about a case he handled involving a 50-year-old woman who lost $23,000 in this scam.

"Throughout this ordeal, (the woman) was told to stay on the phone," the detective said. "She was continually threatened with arrest if she told anyone that she was in contact with the IRS or failed to make payments as instructed."

Both senators criticized the Department of Justice for declining an invitation to participate in the hearing. According to Ms. Collins, the department has prosecuted just three IRS impersonation cases, even though 10,000 new scam calls are made weekly.

"I can only conclude that the department does not want to be held accountable or answer questions about its poor record," the Maine senator said.

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