56 Indicted in Massive IRS Impersonation Scam Arrest-- McCaskill Hails "Enormous Victory for Thousands of Victims'

Press Release

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today praised the indictment of 56 individuals and five Indian call centers for IRS impersonation scams, after a three-year investigation led to the largest single domestic law enforcement action to date involving the scam.

McCaskill and Senator Susan Collins, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Special Committee on Aging, have repeatedly called for increased law enforcement action to combat an emerging scam in which individuals impersonate IRS agents and demand that victims pay money immediately to avoid punishment. The Senate Aging Committee held a hearing last year on the scam, which, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, has victimized roughly 10,000 Americans with losses of $50 million. This figure includes $112,000 that has been stolen from 36 Missouri victims. More than 10,000 attempted scam calls are being placed every week.

"These arrests--the largest law enforcement action against these scammers to date--are an enormous victory for the thousands of victims, many of them elderly, whose sense of financial responsibility has been preyed upon by these criminals," said McCaskill, a former courtroom prosecutor. "We're now sending a clear and aggressive signal to these scam artists that they can no longer hide behind the anonymity of a call center or a blocked number to perpetuate a scam that's made people afraid to answer their phones."

In May, after a tip made to the Aging Committee's fraud hotline, five individuals were arrested for perpetrating the same scam. According to court documents, the suspects are responsible for nearly $2 million in schemes that defrauded more than 1,500 victims.

McCaskill also backed bipartisan legislation that would repeal the legalizing of IRS robocalls by requiring callers to have the receiving party's consent before making automated calls or texts for collecting debts owed or guaranteed by the federal government. The bill is supported by several prominent consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of American and Consumers Union.

McCaskill recently requested from the IRS a plan on how the agency intends to crack down on identity theft scammers who are stealing consumers' Identity Protection PINs in order to file fraudulent tax returns. These PINs were originally intended to deter fraudulent filing by thieves who may already possess an individual's stolen personally identifying information.

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