美国国家公共电台 NPR A Real-Life Tax Scam: This Is What IRS Phone Fraud Sounds Like

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Tax season is here. The filing deadline is next Monday. This year, tax day is the 18th, not the 15th. And when tax season heats up, so does scam season. NPR recently received a recording¹ - a real-life phone call between a woman in Atlanta and a man in a call center claiming to be with the Internal Revenue Service. NPR's Aarti Shahani recaps their peculiar² conversation.

AARTI SHAHANI, BYLINE³: It's a little hard to understand at times.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: All right, Miss, can you please confirm your first name?

SHAHANI: An unidentified IRS man wants her name.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

EMMA LAUDER: OK. My name is Emma Lauder.

SHAHANI: The agent tells Emma Lauder that his office has audited⁵ her taxes from 2009 to 2014, and there's been a miscalculation. She owes money.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: OK, for that reason, the local authorities with an arrest warrant will come at your place.

SHAHANI: And she's going to be arrested - could be any minute now.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Everything under your name - your property, your bank account - everything will be seized, OK?

SHAHANI: And...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: And you also face a federal imprisonment⁶ for up to five years.

SHAHANI: This is not a fun call to get. The punchline⁷ is how much she owes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: The total finance outstand on your name is $1,986.93, OK?

SHAHANI: All of this, from the audit⁴ to her arrest warrant - all these threats over less than two grand? Now, Emma Lauder is not really Emma Lauder. She's a researcher with Pindrop, an Atlanta Company that investigates phone fraud. We can't give her real name, as that would blow her cover. Pindrop set up honeypots - dummy⁸ phone numbers. some entered into online raffles⁹ - win a free iPhone, stuff that's run by criminal rings. Pindrop has traced at least 28 fraud incidents to this ring.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Yes. Do you want to resolve this case outside the courthouse, or do you want to go and fight with IRS in a courthouse?

SHAHANI: According to phone metadata, the data call center is based in a Seattle suburb. But that could just be a proxy¹⁰. Pindrop researchers say the ring is hard to pinpoint¹¹ because they have tools to hide the physical location and the money trail.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I said this is a federal case, so we don't accept any checks or credit card or debit¹² card, OK?

SHAHANI: The call center operator wants cash, and he guides his target through what is clearly a routine drill playing on fear and secrecy¹³.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: You see, Miss, do not disclose to anyone else, to your boss or to anyone else, OK?

SHAHANI: He tells her the federal government only accepts Western Union or MoneyGram and that she must pay at Walmart. The tone of the call really changes from helpful to cruel when she confirms payment. She asks for a receipt, and another so-called IRS agent - he gives this response.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: You can, you know, take a bath and relax.

LAUDER: OK, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Relax, OK? Take a bit of cold water, you know?

LAUDER: Yeah, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Cold water.

SHAHANI: It's creepy. They refer to her private parts and tell her to go look in the toilet.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: I have your address.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: When you go to toilet, the letter will come out from the toilet.

SHAHANI: The real IRS says it's seeing a surge in phone scams with more than 5,000 victims since late 2013. If you get a strange message, one way to handle it is, don't hand over information right away. Hang up and call the IRS directly. Aarti Shahani, NPR News.

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

5 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

6 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

7 punchline   

n.（笑话、故事等的）结尾警语，点睛之笔

参考例句：

• Even then,the magical pause can strengthen the punchline.即使这样，有魔力的停顿依然可以增强笑点。
• A good joke or a mystery novel has along wind up to the final punchline.好的笑话或神秘小说都是一路曲折，直至最后的笑料或真相。

8 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

9 raffles   

n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Elsa and I will buzz on to the Raffles bar. 埃尔莎和我继续往前去，到拉福尔旅馆的酒巴。 来自辞典例句
• Tudsbury rushed to the Raffles and dictated this hot story to Pamela. 塔茨伯利冲到拉福尔旅馆，对帕米拉口述了这个最新消息。 来自辞典例句

10 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

11 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

12 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

13 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。