He Activated the Phones: Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Helping an IRS Impersonation Robocall Scheme

What happened?

On February 6, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines sentenced Michael Galanis, 34, of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, to 12 months in prison and two years of supervised release for conspiring to commit wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution.

How the scheme worked

According to what the court was told, from about March 2016 to about August 2017:

• Call centers in India used phone numbers that made their calls look like they came from the United States.
• The calls played recorded messages falsely claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about unpaid taxes.
• The message then gave a U.S.-based phone number to call back.
• Calls to those numbers were forwarded to the call centers in India.
• The people who answered said the caller owed the IRS money and demanded immediate payment by gift card or other means.

His role

Galanis activated cell phones in the United States to help the scheme. He knew the phones he programmed were being used for fraud. The parties agreed the total loss was between $150,000 and $250,000.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigated.

Here's the thing ...

This case breaks down exactly how an overseas robocall scam works:

1. Prerecorded IRS message goes out.
2. Caller ID looks domestic.
3. Victim calls back a U.S. number.
4. That number forwards to India.
5. A live "agent" demands gift cards.

Galanis worked on the U.S. side, activating cell phones he knew were being used for the fraud. That domestic plumbing is what makes an overseas call look local.

Twelve months is still federal prison, for programming phones. If someone asks you to activate a stack of phones or numbers for "a business overseas," ask why they can't do it themselves.

What to do this week

• Carriers and phone retailers: watch for bulk activations by one person, especially with call forwarding set up right away.
• Never activate phones or numbers for people you don't know.
• Remind family: the IRS does not demand payment by gift card. Ever.
• Report IRS impersonation calls to TIGTA.