No, the IRS really didn't telephone you

If you have a refund coming, you've probably already got it.

If you have to pay the IRS, you may not have filed your tax return yet.

But if you get a call from the IRS, hang up, because it's certainly a scammer.

More than 3,000 people didn't hang up, and they've paid at least $15.5 million to crooks posing as IRS agents.

"The criminals do not discriminate," said Timothy Camus, a Treasury deputy inspector general for tax administration, calling people in all locations and of all financial means.

"The number of complaints we have received about this scam make it the largest, most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of our agency."

Every state has been targeted, leading officials to believe several groups, including some overseas, are behind the fraud.

The calls, which have been received by 366,000 people, are intimidating.

The fake IRS agents claim the victim owes taxes, must send a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer, and if they refuse, someone will come to their house and arrest them.

A local police dispatcher was one of the intended victims, who was told the police would be sent to her house to arrest her if she didn't pay up.

"No, they won't; this IS the police," she responded.

Click.

Two people have been arrested in Florida, with alleged ties to call centers in India.

The IRS is pretty clear on the subject.

'Our message is simple," Camus said. "If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with aggressive threats, if you do no pay immediately, it is a scam artist calling. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by telephone. If you do owe money to the IRS, chances are you have already received some form of a notice or correspondence from the IRS in your mailbox."