Second call from this# in two weeks. First call garbled, second much clearer. "Ruben (or Logan) Smith, spec. agent Crime Inv. Div., Fed.Badge # 1593, issue extremely time sensitive & urgent because warrant issued against you. This needs to be rectified immediately.Call as soon as possible.Crime Div.line is:" (The aforementioned #). These were on ans. machine. I called a relative in law enforcement (Detective)- definite scam DON'T call them back! THEN I found this website here- many other victims of this crap!

Just received telephone call from this number. He called himself jim author had an indian accent with an american name.  I knew immediately it was a scam.  He told me that i owed money to the irs and the local police were going to arrest me. I told him so let them come and arrest me i am home now.  I started to laugh and so did he. lol

It looks like this guy or guys are busy. I received same message from agent Jim Arthur, thick accent, same phone number to warn about warrant for arrest and reported it. I hope nobody fell for their scam.

Similar story to so many on this page. A heavily Indian accented"officer Lorid" Caller left message at my parents home to state that there was a federal warrant that I need to address. Gave me badge # 1593 . . Stated material was time sensitive. What a pain.

This is some coward hiding behind a magicJack device plugged in at some God-forsaken corner of the world where there is Internet service.  He's no better than a common criminal using a magicJack device and your fear the same way a common thief uses a toy pistol hidden in the pocket of his overcoat to make a bulge that looks like a real gun.

You can verify that this is a magicJack number by searching for it at http://www.phonevalidator.com .

Phonevalidator.com does not keep track of numbers ported into and out of the various blocks administered by each phone company.  The most accurate information is only available to the phone companies, and you aren't going to be able to access this information.  For example, it is possible for someone to port their home phone number to a magicJack number without phonevalidator.com knowing about that.

However, there is reason to believe that this is a number originally assigned to a magicJack device:

(1) YMAX Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of magicJack, and assigns numbers to their devices.  magicJack makes almost all of their money selling these devices and the phone service that goes with these devices.

(2) Although it is theoretically possible to assign a number out of a YMAX Corp. block of numbers, it seems very unlikely that anyone ever does this, because the cost of using a magicJack is so low that it would be uneconomical to do so.

(3) In theory, at least, in some states it may be possible to get a YMAX Corp. number without using a magicJack device, it seems very unlikely that anyone would actually do so, because they may use a proprietary protocol for their service, and interconnections to the nationwide telephone system may not be perfectly reliable or even available in some cases.

On the other hand, a magicJack device is very convenient for scammers, especially those from overseas:

(1) They can access the United States and Canada without paying overseas calling fees from anywhere there is Internet service.  This means that the incremental cost per call, incoming or outgoing, is zero or close to zero.

(2) They are assigned a U.S. or Canadian number from YMAX Corp., so the person being called cannot know where the scammer is actually calling from.

(3) MagicJack devices can easily be obtained overseas and appear to come with a "free registration" (i.e., a free number) that you can use for a period of time after the device is purchased, usually at a very low cost to the scammer.

(4) The audio quality is very good, and can be used to give the impression of a busy call center by playing recordings of people taking or making calls in the background, even if the scammer has only one device.

and

(5)  They are readily obtainable outside of the United States for about $100 US and can come with up to a year of free calling to the U.S. and Canada.  See, for example,
http://magicjack.in .

In addition to the regular reporting channels, e.g., the Department of the Treasury, the FTC, and/or your local state attorney general's office, you might also report the abuse to YMAX Corp.  I have seen reports that they are pretty good at responding to complaints and may be able to permanently shut off a magicJack device, if necessary, so that it can never be used again.

The YMAX Corp. main web page is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com
and their site giving information on how to lodge a complaint is at:
http://www.ymaxcorp.com/contact.html

Note that the "contact" website gives a clickable link to a "live chat" where you can make your complaint.

Informational Post:
IRS:   http://www.irs.gov/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing
phishing@irs.gov
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-8c2f64bf2b91fa5/irs-warns-of-telephone-scam

?If you owe federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
?If you don?t owe taxes, call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
?You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. Add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.

Well Mike Arthur, its a scam! No one is going to give you anything. Nice try shilly but it isn't happening!

This is a scam. Nice try shilly but nope! Reported Enjoy your pretty shiny stamps!

Give it ali

This is not fake go to a local walmart and give us that check now
     Mike aurthur

Same thing happened to me. same #,  So scary!

Please report to FTC, Treasury Dept, and send an email to ReportAbuse@magicjack.com. These scammers are using magic jack devices and the company will shut down the device if they get enough complaints. We received the same calls from 2 other numbers, and both have been deactivated.

It's a scam. A guy with a thick accent claiming to be Eric Alexander, Detective.

They seem to be targeting small business owners as potential marks and using scare tactics.

I got the call from this Jim/Mike Arthur this morning.

Thick heavy indian accent which I felt was a scam.  He basically said I had 30 minutes to provide that i have an over $2,000 and was from the IRS Crime investigation unit over the past 10 years. They gave a random case number: 88c2410 and wanted me to goto walmart to make an EFTPS payment in Mike's name. They also didn't know my current address, zipcode or SS# or could they provide any validation of who they were.

They are very persisitant and its confusing at first, but they are just a scam.

    A message was left on my answering machine from someone identifying himself as "Jim Arthur, a special officer from the crime investigation division".  The audio quality of his message was very poor, and I had difficulty understandibg what he was saying.  In addition, he spoke with a heavy foreign accent.  But, I was able to gather he wanted me to call him back at "202-241-1977" because a warrant had been issued against someone with my name.  Since I KNEW I had done nothing wrong with ANYONE, I immediately suspected a SCAM!  I then checked the phone number online, and discovered what many others had to say about their experiences with this number.  I quickly decided to just ignore going any further with this.
    One more thing I could add.....since I knew there was NOTHING I had done wrong, I did not become "scared", or afraid!  Instead, for a few moments I felt a sense of confusion and bewilderment, neither of which exist any longer.

just got a call from the same number.  Also given a warrant number and that my son was evading taxes.  Definitely Indian accent.  Gave me the wrong age of my son, but gave me the right address.  He said a letter was sent home, but that was not true of course.  Pretty disgusting, annoying, and anxiety producing call.  Thank God I felt it was a SCAM

Got two messages from the same "officer Jim Arthur" in the crime investigation division (no reference to any particular police department or agency), same "badge number" as above. Definitely a foreign accent and rather poor English for a Jim Arthur...
I'm about to report it to the local PD following the recommendations of a real police officer.

I received a call from 202-241-1977 last week. Same M.O. as everyone on this post. "Logan Smith" said there is a warrant out for my wife, and he referred to her under my last name. My wife has always used her maiden name on all IRS documents. Such a nasty scam.

I received the same call this morning from officer Logan Smith claiming I have a federal warrant out for my arrest.  Same number as listed above and all the information others have reported is the same.  Hung up on him and he called back 5 times! Very persistent and scary.

Report the call to the real IRS here:

IRS:   http://www.irs.gov/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing
phishing@irs.gov
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-8c2f64bf2b91fa5/irs-warns-of-telephone-scam

?If you owe federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
?If you don?t owe taxes, call and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
?You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov. Add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.

Called saying that it was officer Logan smith and that my mother was doing tax fraud. they new my address and my sisters name that does not live here. Gave me an arrest warrant number and said that my mom would get arrested in 45 minutes. I was fighting with them asking him questions and he kept trying to say that I was being rude and that we would settle it in court. I kept asking about exactly what it was about and would just say tax fraud and hey would give me details after in court. number was 2022411977

Yes, "Jim Arthur" called twice today with the same story. Called his bluff, and told him to go ahead and send the cops over.
He hung up.

We received the same threatening phone call from somebody who claimed to be ?IRS Agent Logan Smith? in spite of the thick foreign accent, with the same story as others have shared. He asked for a cellphone number or to be called back at the number in this thread, 202-241-1977. The story sounded very fishy from the beginning, but it was scary nonetheless.

Got a call from 202-241-1977, same story, a threatening voice claiming to be an IRS officer warning me that I'll be arrested by the police for tax evasion unless I make payments.  I wish the authorities would find the time to look into the tactics of these scary con artists.

I got 2 messages on my answering machine...first time he identified himself as "Officer Jim Arthur".  Ok, first giveaway something is wrong....American sounding name, but strong accent and bad English.  Second message he only identified himself as "Jim Arthur" forgot the "officer".  This crap is so annoying.

Just received similar call threatening with police coming to my door.  Officer Max Morgan with thick indian accent from criminal investigation office in DC.  When I said I thought it was a scam he started using fowl language so I hung up.   He knew my address and full name.  I hope nothing more.. Anybody noticed problems with credit..etc?

Got the same call about an hour ago, claiming to be the irs. They threatened me with arrest. I gave no information at all. The number used was from the same number above 202 241-1977. They had a very heavy indian accent and gave the name of Eric Alexander.  They asked me to call back otherwise I would be sorry. I called my local police dept who then explained there was a scam.

They left two messages on our answering saying about the same. The call was garbled at times. I was to call "officer Jim Arthur badge ID 15938" from crime investigation division. No foreign accent but hardly able to follow the script.

This is scam.
The callers have Indian accent and pretend to be part of a "Crime Investigation Unit" badge ID 15938.
Names:  Eric Stone and Paul Watson

they asked me for 18k -- in payments of $1800 - first payable NOW - today -- to as i have committed IRS fraud -- and a criminal fraud investigation officer - Logan Smith -- with a thick Indian accent - is informing me that there is a warrant issued against me and my court date is tomorrow -- unless i pay the first installment today -- to their agents that will come to my door .... they knew my address . they knew  a lot about me  ... they were relentless.

i've called my accountant - a tax attorney and the local cops. for awhile they sounded so credible that no matter how straight arrow you are -- you get scarred with the image of you behind bars. even if no grounds ....