Think I can beat ya on the scammers, Scott. Got a call last week from a guy with an East Indian accent that said he was from the IRS and he was in the process of investigating a case in which I owed several thousand dollars in back taxes. Right away I knew it was a scam because the IRS never calls anyone - they ALWAYS inform you via registered mail.
So I asked the caller that does IRS stand for? There was a long pause, then he said "you know sir, this is very serious."
Then I asked him where the IRS was located, he paused again, then said Washington. I responded is that where you are calling from? Yes, he said. Then I said, well why does your caller ID have a Kentucky area code?
At this point he became somewhat irate and said "Sir, if you think that is a prank call, then hang up and you will suffer legal ramifications." I said fine, but when I hang up I will immediately be contacting the US Department of Commerce Fraud Division and provide them your telephone number. What is your name? He immediately hung up.
Ironically, two days later, anther very similar call, this time from a lady caller when a foreign accent, seemed to be Spanish, this time, she left a message on my answering machine to call a number with a Tennessee area code. Obviously, I didn't bother, but I did turn over both numbers to the feds, though I seriously doubt that anything will come of it.
Love the creativity of those scammers, and I cannot believe that anyone would fall for this crap, but they do. I saw on TV where someone gave a person claiming to be the IRS a credit card number because they thought they may owe and that person charged thousands of dollars of merchandise in some mid-western city, until the charge card was wiped out.
All the best,
Gary