Fake IRS Agents on Two-Year Scam Streak

Fake IRS agents have been targeting people with harassing phone calls since 2013 in what one federal official calls the largest such scam in the agency's history.

The fake agents tell people that they owe taxes and say they have to pay those taxes right away by a pre-paid debit card or a wire transfer.

They also threaten people with being arrested, losing a driver's license, or other penalties.

"The criminals do not discriminate. They are calling people everywhere, of all income levels and backgrounds," Timothy Camus, a Treasury deputy inspector general for tax administration, told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday.

"The callers often warned the victims that if they hung up, local police would come to their homes to arrest them," he testified.

The real IRS pointed out it contacts people by mail and never asks for payment by a debit, credit card, or wire transfer.