Why IRS Telephone Scamming Works

One of the strangest phenomena in the tax news of late is the scam in which people are called and persuaded to transfer money to people pretending to represent the IRS.  J. Russel George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, testifying before the Senate Budget Committee gave some details on how the scam works. According to the victims, the scam artists made threatening statements and then demanded that the victims immediately put money on prepaid debit cards in order to avoid ...