To follow up on my March 18 column on what I was sure was a scam phone call from someone masquerading as an IRS agent: It was the unanimous opinion of everyone who responded to my column that I should contact the IRS and let them know about the suspicious call. I was out of town most of last week, and decided to do just that when I got back. However, in my absence, a package of materials arrived from the IRS about our case. As you may recall from my report, after I declined to provide my caller with my social security number, she promised to send me a mailing that would contain everything the IRS had intended to go over with me by telephone. When more than a week went by without the arrival of any sort of mail from the IRS, I took that as proof that the call could be none other than a scam. Another key piece of evidence on that score, to my mind, was the refusal of the agent to give me a government callback number. She had said (I thought quite implausibly): “The IRS no longer provides us with individual extensions, so I have no number that you can call back.”
Imagine my surprise, then, when sorting through the massive pile of mail below the mail slot that I found upon my return from my trip: Not only was there a envelope from the IRS, but it contained a cover letter dated February 28. By the time I opened the envelope, the 30 day reply window was already one day in the past. There was, however, a US government phone number to call about the case.
So I called, went through about a half hour of voicemail mazes and holds, and finally got to talk to a certifiably real IRS agent about everything that had transpired. Amazingly, she confirmed that the IRS had indeed called me several weeks ago. Yes, it’s true: They do ask the recipients of their calls to recite their social security number in response to the caller’s unknown voice, before the taxpayer can even find out what the call is about. Even more strangly, the IRS agent confirmed that they don’t have the ability to give out a government callback number. She said they used to have individual extensions, but the system was changed some months ago, and that feature was taken away.
