It can be a frightening call to get.
Callers posing as tax and immigration agents are threatening arrest, deportation or other punishment unless money is sent to help clear up what they say is a deportation warrant or to cover unpaid income taxes.
The government says it's a scam – one that's tricked at least 15,000 people into shelling out more than $300 million.
Now the Justice Department has charged 61 defendants in the United States and abroad in connection with a call centre operation that officials say is based in India.
Federal prosecutors have just unsealed an indictment detailing the case.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R Caldwell says authorities served nine warrants in eight states and arrested 20 people in the international fraud and money laundering scheme investigation. The case includes five call centre groups.
Caldwell says the scam targeted the elderly and minorities, and extorted thousands of dollars from victims at a time. She says the money was laundered with the help of prepaid debit cards.
Indictments After
Three-Year Investigation
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission announced the indictments, the result of a three-year investigation that was the largest single domestic law enforcement action connected with the impersonation scam.
To date, more than 1.8 million people have reported to TIGTA that they have received an impersonation call; more than 9,600 victims reported that they paid the impersonators a total amount that exceeds USD 50 millionGeneral J Russell George, TIGTA Inspector
“The largest single amount paid as a result of the IRS impersonation scam as charged in the indictment is USD 136,000, paid by a victim in California,” George said.
The US Senate Aging Committee, that studies issues related to older Americans, received more than 1,100 calls from senior citizens across the country on its fraud hotline in 2015.
The most common complaint reported to the fraud hotline continues to be the IRS impersonation scam.
(With inputs from PTI and AP)
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