Victim Location 30308
Total money lost $2,500
Type of a scam Tax Collection
Left a message on my phone in robotic voice saying that the IRS had a warrant for my arrest due to unpaid back taxes. I called them back because I believed that it was the IRS. They gave me their names and badge #s as if they were officers. They gave me a case file #. They read me a statement saying that my taxes had been audited and that it looked like I was trying to intentionally defraud the government. They claimed that an officer had stopped by my house twice this past year to inform me of this but that no one had been home, and that I should have received a "little yellow notice" in my mail box. They were very detailed the whole time, which made them sound more legitimate. They said that if I settled the amount within the next two hours that I could avoid having federal charges brought against me. They said they would instruct me how to pay, but their system was slow today, so I should start heading to the bank to take out the amount in cash, then they would tell me where I could go to pay via the EFTPS system. They said they had to stay on the line with me the whole time, and not to tell the bank or any third party what I was doing because the bank would immediately freeze my account if they knew, and because if a third party got involved, it would be considered a conspiracy in court. They said I could pay via the EFTPS system at a Target store, I went to a target store. They said that if I bought a Target gift card that said on the back of it that it was not redeemable for cash except when by law, that this was the way to pay. I bought the gift card, thinking I was going to bring it to a kiosk or something of the EFTPS system, or give it to an officer. Then they asked for the gift card #. They said they had to confirm it now but that I would hand it over to an officer who would visit my house the next day, who would also counsel me on my mistakes in my taxes. I gave them the gift card #s. They said they would stay on the line until I got confirmation that the charges had been dropped. I’m sure it was so that I wouldn’t cancel the gift cards. They said they sent me a copy of the warrant for my arrest. I didn’t get it until after I had handed over the money. They used many fear tactics on me, but the minute I saw the "warrant" I knew something was wrong. It was clearly bogus. All the same, they had gotten to me very effectively with their fear tactics and I couldn’t admit to myself that I had been scammed until hours later. The warning signs were very clear, but the fear tactics they used were so effective that I didn’t listen to my better conscious.