The IRS is threatening me (fun at lunch)

Well to be honest maybe a year ago or so we got a similar message and in intially I panicked, wrote down the number and information. Before calling I did a Google search which yielded info on the scam.

The way the call is made it scares you even if you have no reason to be scared.

And those who do, end up on sucker lists, which are sold and are big money. This is why we see such egregiously bad spam. It's to keep the bar as low as possible, 'cause a person who falls for that will fall for anything.

Sadly, their targets are generally the elderly or undiagnosed mentally ill who don't have caregivers or family or coworkers or neighbors to bounce anything off.

Damn - both the numbers they left on my answering machine no longer works --- do you think I caused this?

Perhaps they periodically change them any way to avoid being caught.

Anyone getting calls please post the number so we can "follow up" with them.

They change it to avoid being caught. Scammers are good at their craft.

"craft"... i could think of a couple of choice words for what they do...

Then how do they catch someone on vacation? Say I am gone a week and they leave me a message threatening my very life with jail and murder of my children and then leave a number to call so I can pay through the nose to save ourselves. But then the number is no longer in service. How can I pay the ransom?

Not a problem. Give the money to me. I know a guy who knows how to contact them. I will see that they get your money so that you and your loved ones can rest easy.

No, please do not. We are not going to give good page rankings to scammers.

From this particular set of two calls, I only heard the horrible-to-the-max alto voiced woman of doom, but, given this stuff is so prolific, I picture there being calls for scary voiced actors: could be lucrative, join a growing industry..

I love those calls.
Let them talk, threaten and yammer on, then I give them 5 seconds of silence, say Huh?", they give their speil again, I say "wassat?", they get mad. I try to keep them on the phone as long as possible acting like an idiot.
I do the same with the computer virus calls and finally tell them I don't even own a computer.
If they ask for my name, I am "Phil" ... "Phil McCrevis".
Good times!

Phil, Im Holden McGroin. Glad to meet youse.