Kathy Hedberg: Commentary: When scammers call, I'm not answering
Mar. 20—Seriously, if I do something wrong and the IRS gets after me, they're going to have to break down my door and take me by force.
Because I am not answering the phone, not responding to emails and I am not opening letters that purport to be from the federal agency hot on my tracks because somehow I've defrauded the government of $75,000 and now have to pay the piper.
I get these scam phone calls all the time. Some dull, husky-sounding voice that sounds like somebody recovering from a bender claiming to be from the IRS and calling about some inconsistencies with my tax return. I've long since stopped picking up the receiver. You'd think that whoever is on the other end of the line would have given up by now, but the calls persist.
It's not only menacing phone calls from the IRS. I get other calls warning me that a lawsuit has been filed against me for God-knows-what reason. I get emails that say my credit card has been charged $495 for my order (that I didn't order) from Amazon.
Even snail mail has caved in to the extortion game, sending letters saying that if I don't renew my car service warranty (which I didn't buy in the first place) my car is likely to explode and send me into outer space.
Of course this is all just baloney because the IRS and other legitimate businesses don't harass people this way. They prefer to harass face-to-face. In fact, some companies now go to the trouble of informing you that they don't do business this way and warn you not to respond if you get a threatening phone call purporting to be from them.
My question is, why is this still happening? Years ago I registered both of my phone numbers with the state and federal do-not-call lists. Those lists don't seem to deter anybody. I think the only ones who do-not-call now are my kids when I want them to.
And if you contact the law enforcement-types (which I have done) to complain, all they can advise you to do is not pick up the phone if it's from a number you don't recognize. That also is not fool-proof because the criminals now know how to fake names on your caller ID readout.
U.S. authorities say they don't have much authority in these cases because the scammers most often live overseas (in big mansions, I suppose, where they don't have anything else to do all day but make scam phone calls). So why are we so dang worried about poor people coming into the country from the southern border when we're being invaded by faceless criminals over the phone?
I remember years ago hearing that it is a custom in Russia to ignore the phone if you have a visitor in your home. Russians believe that the live person is more important than the one on the phone.
I used to think that would be hard to do. I'd struggle not to rush to answer the ringing phone. Now I'm beginning to see the wisdom in it.
Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.
