Scammers try to pull IRS con on Action 9's Jason Stoogenke

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tax day has come and gone, but scammers pretending to be from the IRS are still calling, trying to trick you out of your money.

Scammers con former Panther

One called former Carolina Panthers player Frank Garcia.

The caller pretended to be from the IRS, said Garcia owed $4,200 and ordered him to pay immediately or he'd be arrested.

PRESS PLAY: Frank Garcia: 'It makes you feel about two inches tall'

Garcia didn't think that was accurate, but didn't want to chance it.

He worried what would happen to his freedom, job and family if he really did owe the IRS.

"The last thing I wanted, being a dad of two children, wanting them to see, is their dad in handcuffs, going to jail," he said.

'Everything happened so quick'

So Garcia agreed to do what the caller said.

She wanted him to leave work immediately, drive around and hit certain convenience stores to pick up prepaid debit cards.

He took Action 9 on that drive again, retracing his steps, to show what he went through.

"Everything happened so quick," he said.

The caller told him to keep her on the phone and said that if he hung up or even lost the call, she would take it as him refusing to cooperate with the IRS.

The scammer didn't want him to have a chance to get off the phone, do some research of his own and verify her story. At one point, Garcia even bought a phone charger while he was on the phone with her. "I'm panicked. I'm like, 'Let me make sure this happens.' I'm sweating," he said.

She directed him to Rite Aid, 7-Eleven and CVS locations around South Boulevard to pick up the debit cards.

She told him that if the stores asked why he needed the money to say it was for gifts. She told him the store would charge him extra if it was to pay the IRS, which is not true. But stores are getting better at spotting the scam and protecting victims, so the caller used the trick to prevent him from telling a savvy sales clerk the truth.

'My biggest concern was not being arrested'

After each stop, Garcia read the card numbers to the caller, transferring the money to the scammer.

"I'm not thinking, you know, logically at this point. I'm thinking, 'Let me get this thing over with and end this nightmare so I can go home to my kids. They have to be picked up at 4,'" Garcia said.

Garcia said he spent five hours visiting almost 10 stores because each one had a limit on how many cards he could buy at one time. He was on the phone with the caller the entire time.

"My biggest concern was not being arrested,” he said.

Garcia finally went to a CVS where the clerk asked if there was a problem. Garcia mouthed the letters "IRS" to the clerk so the scammer wouldn't hear.

The clerk told him to hang up. So did an IRS employee who happened to be shopping at the same time, Garcia said.

PRESS PLAY: Frank Garcia: 'They operate out of fear and ignorance'

Scammer targets Action 9

An IRS impostor recently left Action 9's Jason Stoogenke an automated message, urging him to call a Washington, D.C., number because of an "urgent matter."

Stoogenke suspected that it was an IRS impostor targeting him, so he decided to call the number and play along, to gather firsthand information for consumers.

The scammer had a thick foreign accent, just like the person who called Garcia, which authorities say is typical with this scam. He said Stoogenke owed $9,496 in taxes and threatened Stoogenke with civil court.

"You will be fighting this case against the federal government," the caller threatened.

He wanted Stoogenke to stay on the phone, go to his bank and withdraw the money. At one point, the caller wanted to make sure Stoogenke's bank would let him take out that much cash easily.

Then the scammer told Stoogenke to find the nearest Bank of America or Wells Fargo. The scammer said that when he got there, the scammer would give him a special account number in which to deposit the money.

"So I can pay for it right now and it will all go away?" Stoogenke asked.

"Yes, we will dismiss right away, right now," the caller said.

'I'm actually with a TV station ...'

This exchange went on for several minutes until Stoogenke told the scammer that he's a consumer investigator.

PRESS PLAY: Raw video of the exchange:

Here's a transcript of the conversation from that point on:

Action 9: "You and I both know you're lying. I'm actually with a TV station and I'm recording all of this and this is going to go on the air. So let me ask you this: Why do you insist on scamming people?"
Scammer: (Inaudible)
Action 9: "We both know you are not with the IRS. And we both know the IRS would not have somebody go to their bank and pay money the very same day or be in trouble with a civil lawsuit. So why do you insist on scamming people?"
Scammer: (Inaudible)
Action 9: "I don't understand your answer."
Scammer: "The local sheriff's department will come at your place (inaudible) arrested by today."
Action 9: "So I'm going to get arrested today by the local sheriff? Can you even name the local sheriff? Because I can. And I know the local sheriff and you don't. How about this: how about I'll make you a deal? How about you don't call anybody anymore in the U.S.?"
Scammer: (Inaudible)
Action 9: "I think that sounds like a good deal. I think you're getting the better end of the bargain here."

The scammer didn't hang up.

Finally, the scammer cursed out Stoogenke, using two common American epithets, but combining them incorrectly.

$14 million and counting

The IRS believes that IRS impostors have conned Americans out of more than $14 million since October 2013.

The North Carolina Attorney General's Office thinks those calls cost North Carolinians more than $100,000 so far.

South Carolina officials say residents have lost more than $29,000 this year alone.

Action 9 has collected dozens of viewer emails and police reports about the scam.

The Better Business Bureau has heard from more than 350 people about it since last summer.

How do the scammers get away with this?

"They're not from around here. They're from foreign countries,” BBB president Tom Bartholomy said.

What to know

The IRS will contact you by mail. It will never call you, demand money over the phone, ask you to pay using prepaid debit cards or threaten you with civil or criminal action by phone.

The IRS will never tell you that you can't hang up the phone, tell people with whom you are on the phone or tell a store why you need money.

If you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040, go to http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1 or go to your local IRS office.

In Charlotte, it is at 10715 David Taylor Drive. Never trust the phone number the caller gives you.