IRS Phone Scam: Don't Fall For It, Oklahoma

An IRS phone scam is going around again.

Over the past few days, viewers have been calling and emailing to tell us about the threatening calls. A few of the emails we've gotten say the phony people on the line are threatening jail time if you don’t pay up.

The IRS says don't fall for it.

Some people have been getting the calls and voicemails for months.

The caller often tells the victim the IRS has filed a lawsuit. Then they demand the target pay a bogus tax bill with cash or a prepaid debit card by a certain time or risk being arrested.

Some are even asking victims to verify who they are by giving their social security number.

The IRS says it will never call someone and demand immediate payment over the phone.

One victim we spoke to says he immediately knew the calls were a hoax.

"The IRS isn't going to come storm-trooping into your house 20 minutes after they hang up the telephone and send the sheriff to come pick you up,” scam target Rick Olds said. “That's not going to happen, so we just need to get that message out to just double check everything before you send any money out."

The IRS says before a real government representative calls you, you will receive several bills in the mail.

*The IRS never will call to demand immediate payment over the phone without having first mailed out a bill.

*It never will demand you pay taxes without letting you question or appeal the amount.

*And it never will threaten to have law enforcement arrest you.

We tried the phony IRS call back numbers and they are giving a disconnection message.

Read the consumer alert from the IRS