Who Is Your Criminal Attorney? Begins The 'IRS' Phone Scam

DETROIT (WWJ) - A new phone scam is making the rounds in the Detroit area. Someone calls claiming to be from the IRS and that you owe back taxes. And the tell-tale sign is that they can be a little threatening.

"And the reason for this call is to get your criminal attorney's information, as there are three criminal charges placed on you by the IRS," repeats one intended victim about the call.

"We will definitely contact your employer and tell them about your criminal activity and I'll make sure that you are fired from your job ... Now feel free to return the call but if I don't hear from you ... just to be ready for legal consequences."

Metro Detroiter Claudia Mann received several calls at work and knew the IRS wasn't going to call if there was a problem, so she wasn't falling for the fraud ...

"So, it was like, I knew it was a hoax, it was, you know, it was just too much," said Mann.

She says that the caller threatened to send someone to her place of work and that he would continue to call ... and that he would have her fired.

At one point Mann enlisted a co-worker to unnerve the caller:

"You are calling the Southfield police department," said her co-worker. "Will you identify yourself?  Then he ... paused and he wouldn't say anything and then he like hung up."

You're not going to get a threatening call from the IRS, even if you do owe back taxes, the IRS still prefers to use the postal system.

If you get one of these calls, notify your local police department.