SCAM CALLS FROM (310) 620-7832

Be aware of scam and identity theft calls originating from this phone number:  (310) 620-7832.  On my caller ID, the call showed up as coming from California, although I suspect the real caller was outside the United States.

The initial call is usually a robo call (one dialed by a computer with a recorded message).

The call will saying something like:  "This is the US Treasury Department.  You are being notified of an investigation of illegal activity.  You are instructed to call us right away.  Failure to call us will be considered a second attempt to evade our enforcement actions and may result in severe penalty (or fines, or arrest, etc.)."

The US Treasury Department and the IRS never make this type of phone call.  It is ALWAYS a scam.  Do not return the call.  Do not provide the caller with any identifying information such as your name, address, Social Security Number, etc.  If you do, you will become a victim of identity theft.

If you return the call (please do not), a call center operator will ask for identifying information and will then ask you to wire money, a gift card or other means of "payment" which a real government agency would not accept.  Once you send this money, you can never get it back because it probably winds up in an overseas bank account in some place like Pakistan, Bangladesh or another foreign country.  

The scam is very widespread.  It is estimated that as many as 100,000 of these fraudulent calls are made each day in the United States.  They have many other telephone numbers that they use, not just the (310) 620-7832.

They may use a phone number for only one day.  Then, these scam artists begin using another number to call you.  Remember, they can spoof your caller ID to make it look like a real call from the US government.

Also, there are many variations of this scam.  Callers may pretend to be from the IRS, the Treasury Department, Social Security--or some other branch of government.  They use scare tactics to try to get you to send them money or provide them with bank accounts or other private information.  Do not return their calls; do not speak to these impostors.  They are always fake and always dangerous. 

The real Treasury Dept. and the real IRS do not make these type of calls.  They primarily make initial contact by US Mail, not over the phone.  They will not call you and threaten to arrest you or charge you fines.  Threats are always a sure sign of a scam call.  Just hang up.

I want persons reading my website to be aware of this dangerous scam and not be deceived by it.  These calls are very common. (I mean, 100,000 calls every day).

Some people get 2 or 3 calls in the same day.  And some of the callers sound very real.  However, many of them have heavy foreign accents and trouble with the English language, which is a sure tip-off.  For example, the woman who called me pronounced the word Florida, as Flo-RID-ia.  Don't speak to these people.  If you do, you will be sorry.  It will cost you money and misery.  A lot of misery.