Scammers are calling 10,000 Americans a week posing at IRS agents and have already stolen $ 15.5 million from 3,000 victims , say federal agents . With the tax filing deadline just one month and a half away , Americans should stay wary of fraudsters trying to steal their money by imp . Treasury Department deputy inspector general for investigations Tim Camus said that the hoax is the 'largest , most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of the agency . ' Scroll down for video . Victim : Al Cadenhead , pictured at a press conference on Friday , lost $ 16,500 in an IRS phone scam in which an unidentified woman told him to transfer his money onto prepaid debit cards and give her the number . At least 366,000 reported receiving a scam , phone call , with approximately one per cent falling for the scam . CBS reports that Al Cadenhead who works as a senior pastor at Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte , North Carolina got such a phone call last fall . 'Do n't disregard this message as delay in calling us back might end up in a legal matter for you , ' the message said . Caldenhead called the woman back immediately and she proceeded to give a false badge number and allegedly told Cadenhead the IRS was issuing a warrant for his address . 'This woman gave me her name and her badge number and said she was informing me that they were filing a warrant for my arrest , ' Cadenhead said . Part of the scam : The scammers instruct their victims to put their cash onto prepaid MoneyPak cards . 'For tax fraud ; and she started listing all the things they were going to do . ' The women then allegedly threatened Cadenhead and said that is he did n't do what she told him to do she would freeze all of his accounts . 'My heart was racing . It was racing . I am very afraid at that point , ' Cadenhead said . Even though Cadenhead did n't think that he did anything wrong , he feared for his reputation and was under extreme pressure . ' I do n't want to cause embarrassment to my family , to my church . I 'm retiring in a few months . This is not how I want to be remembered , being arrested , ' Cadenhead said . Real threat : Treasury Department deputy inspector general for investigations Tim Camus said that the hoax is the 'largest , most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of the agency ' Cadenhead recalls being on the phone for an entirety of 5 or 6 hours as he gave into their scheme . As directed by the woman , Cadenhead took out money from his banks and bought several prepaid MoneyPak cards . He then told her the pin number for the cards and they were able to steal $ 16,000 , reports the Charlotte Observer . 'They knew just one intimate detail after another , ' Cadenhead said on Friday at a news conference . They scare you to death . ' 'This scam impacts everybody . We 've had very , very educated and intelligent people fall for it , ‘ Tim Camus said . Camus also received a phone call from the scammers but he was not fooled though he says it can happen to anyone .
Treasury Department deputy inspector general for investigations Tim Camus said that the hoax is the 'largest , most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of the agency ' Scammers are calling 3,000 Americans a week posing at IRS agents and have already stolen $ 15.5million from 10,000 victims , say federal agents . 'Do n't disregard this message as delay in calling us back might end up in a legal matter for you , ' says the scam call message . Fraudsters supposedly tell the victims to withdraw money from their accounts , buy pre-paid debit cards and tell them the number .