WASHINGTON — More than 10,000 people have fallen victim to an IRS scam targeting senior citizens, where fraudsters pose as Internal Revenue Service agents and demand money from unsuspecting taxpayers, many over the age of 55.

"These con artists can sound convincing when they call," the IRS explained. "They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling."