<prompt> Human: I got a phone call today from a spoofed number real police department number pretending to be from the police department. He said some irs is checking my older tax return and found some improper tax reporting of my scholarship. They were gonna put out a warrant to arrest me and he was going to help me by putting me through some process. Halfway through the call I got suspicious and mentioned I should probably get a lawyer, and he hanged up.I called the number back, and it was indeed the police department. He immediately said its a scam and its been happening a lot. He ensures I will get something in the mail if I actually have problems with the irs and calmed me down. So it turned out ok.My concern was that the scammer was actually able to gave the name of my university and the exact scholarship amountthey were from 6-7 years ago. And he somehow also had the idea that I might have reported it incorrect?I dont think so but I wasnt sure how did he get that information and how should I protect myself in the future preventing situations like this?  <response>: First, always know that the IRS will contact you by mail, written correspondence first. I recently got a scam type call. They told me I had some complaint against me and I needed to reconcile it. It was in the form of a voicemail so I called the number back, told them I had a call, etc. I gave them my name, they asked if I was so and so and used an old email and address from 6 years ago. It all felt very weird so I started asking questions for specifics. I asked for the account number of whatever I was supposedly at fault for some kind of pay day loan which Ive never got pay day loans before. They also wanted me to confirm the last 4 digits of my social security number, but they actually knew the last 4 digits. I did not confirm it by asking another question instead, and they were quick to hang up the phone. I called back and went through the same process, and never confirmed any information yet they were quick to get off the phone with me. You would think they would want my updated info if I really owed somebody. My wife came to the conclusion it may have been a ploy to get me on a recording confirming my identity so they could use my social and pretend to be me. Scary thought but it made sense. Always google numbers, always ask questions and chances are the scammer will fall apart and not seem so authentic. 