People who pose as fake IRS representatives and try to scam unsuspecting people deserve your ire. It takes a particular kind of jerk to combine the IRS, telemarketing, and thievery into one occupation. You might have received a phone call from one of these scammers. Hopefully, you just hung up and didn’t give them any money.
Hadeel al-Massari of Seattle, Washington had different plans. She had quite the conversation with her would-be-scammer and published it all on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981193749039538176
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981196039611805696
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981196324186988546
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981197237819604992
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981198005138112512
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981198462619336706
Well, that might have been a mistake—those mattresses are so comfortable! She clearly already has one, or maybe she’s more of a Leesa person? Who knows. At any rate, the scammer seemed to have no interest in al-Massari’s quality of sleep, which just reinforces what an inconsiderate jerk they are.
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981199421571395584
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981200510853136385
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981201806028976128
Naturally, people saw al-Massari as a hero, doing what all of us secretly want to do when we get one of these phone calls.
Ma’am you are living my dream come true. Please take the day off and treat yourself.
— Diana Kris (@_dianakris) April 4, 2018
You are my hero today. :)
— Jeff Morris (@mister_terrific) April 3, 2018
I am suddenly thinking of all the fun opportunities I have missed by not picking up any calls from unknown numbers… 🤣
— Jessica (@Thund3r_H4wk) April 4, 2018
I’m SO JEALOUS! All I ever get is the prerecorded “Hi, this is Rachel from account services,” and I hang up. I want a good scammer! *pouts dramatically*
— Shira Kelley (@ShiraKelley) April 5, 2018
People have been asking al-Massari to post the audio for the call, but as she points out, in Washington state that would require the consent of both parties, not something she’s likely to get.
As a side note, she also doesn’t want to be on your podcast.
https://twitter.com/twittysuch/status/981641850703429632
According to the official IRS website, calls like these are very common. The IRS adds that it will never:
- Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
- Demand that taxes be paid without giving taxpayers the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
- Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
- Call you about an unexpected refund.
Too bad about that last thing. You can read the IRS’ post about phone scams in its entirety here.