I just got a phone call from someone who claimed to be from the IRD "in Wellington". They knew my first initial and last name, and they claimed that I had been selected by the IRD for a special "tax free rate".

I said "oh?" and he explained further. "As I knew", last year the government announced that 700 people would be selected for this tax free rate. And because of my lack of criminal record, I had been selected by our Prime Minister "John Philip Key" as one of the 700 in a drawing.

The man's accent was indian, and very strong, and he was actually hostile until I came to the phone. (Someone else answered initially, and he basically yelled at them that he needed to speak to "<my initial> <my surname>" until they fetched me.)

If it was yesterday, I'd have vaguely assumed it was some sort of April Fool's joke gone wrong, but it's not. So... Anyone else run across this? Any idea what their game is?

Notable, in my view, is that they somehow got my first initial and phone number, and they had a decent script, for scammers. Mentioning that they were from the "IRD in Wellington" made it seem a bit more plausible. On the other hand, he pronounced IRD as "I <pause> R <pause> D", his attitude and tone was wildly inappropriate for an outbound call centre, and I don't think any kiwi would have mentioned "our Prime Minister, John Philip Key". Plus, of course, the idea that the IRD would be randomly designating kiwis to not have to pay tax this year is absurd.

Most odd, I think. If I hadn't been grumpy from staying up too late last night, I might have stayed on the line and found out what the scam was. So...anyone know?