supervisor

It is highly unlikely that any commercial business collects debts owed to federal, state, or local taxes. All of these agencies have their own collection departments for late taxes. You would contact the Better Business Bureau to report any suspected consumer fraud.

Huh?? For an attorney you not very bright. A simple check of West Asset Management's website reads..
Our solutions include collection of federal and state tax, fines and fees, child support and court costs and will help you improve performance and reduce operational costs.Our solutions include collection of federal and state tax, fines and fees, child support and court costs and will help you improve performance and reduce operational costs.
Private collection agences have been used as vendor contractors for years from anything from federal student loans to a local goverment parking ticket or library fine. So, to the original poster, the answer is , no it is not a scam.

If you go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service#Outsourcing_collection_and_tax-assistance you will find a passage saying, "In March 2009, the IRS announced that it would no longer outsource the collection of taxpayers debts to private debt collection agencies. The IRS decided not to renew contracts to private debt collection agencies, and began a hiring program at its call sites and processing centers across the country to bring on more personnel to process collections internally from taxpayers. As of October 2009, the IRS has ceased using private debt collection agencies."
Therefore, the information West Asset Management has posted on its website is not correct insofar as its statement as it concerns federal taxes. While there are articles on the IRS from the time the IRS did use private collection agencies, West Asset Management is not listed as one of the agencies the IRS contracted with.
If I am mistaken, and the state of New York does outsource its collection of delinquent state taxes, then I sincerely apologize to the original poster. If I might make a humble suggestion, if I was in a similar situation as the original poster, I would contact the New York department of Taxation and Finance and ask one of their representatives if West Asset Management is representing them in collection actions.

Is the IRS the only taxing authority? The poster mentioned New York State. I just paid a collection agency some back PA taxes and they were 100% legit. (The amount was exactly what I knew I owed and the Department of Revenue confirmed they were the collection agency of record when I called to verify. If you're going to be in the debt settlement business, shouldn't you know that a lot of states outsource tax collection?

The IRS is not the only taxing authority. It is the federal government's taxing authority. I did not know that a lot of states outsource delinquent tax collection because each state does things differently and my experience to date is only with the IRS and Illinois. I do apologize for my mistake, no one is perfect, least of all me.