IRS Scam Threatens Legal Action If You Don’t Send Money

Members of the Indian community appear to be targets of an IRS scam.

Gopal Khatri and his wife received the first call at their Herndon, Va., home in late March from a man who claimed to be from the Internal Revenue Service. He told them they owed an unspecified sum in back taxes. The second time they received a call, they were told they would be sued.

But the Khatris didn't fall for it. Instead, they went online and found a blog with entries from numerous other families from around the United States, all with Indian surnames, who reported getting similar calls from the same number. It has a 732 area code, which is in New Jersey.

"These scams grow in frequency right before tax time," said Eric Smith of the IRS.

If you get a suspicious call, the IRS recommends you ask for a call back number and employee badge or identification number and contact the IRS to determine if the caller is indeed an IRS employee.

The Khatris hung up before the caller got into details of how he wanted the money sent. They say one family was instructed to send a money order.

The IRS says the number you can call to verify whether a contact is legitimate is 800-829-1040.