The Missouri Attorney General’s Office continues to receive complaints involving individuals impersonating employees of the Internal Revenue Service, even after the tax deadline passed, according to a news release from the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Attorney General Koster is urging Missourians not to fall for the scam.
How the scam works
According to complaints filed with the Attorney General’s Office, the callers fraudulently claim to be with the IRS and claim the consumer owes a tax debt to the IRS or has an outstanding warrant against them.
The caller threatens the IRS is going to file a lawsuit against the consumer if they don’t pay the alleged debt immediately, or that federal officials will be outside the consumer’s door within 24 hours.
The news release says these calls are scam calls and consumers shouldn’t provide any information to these callers.
The Attorney General’s Office said they received 35 calls last week alone about the scam.
Tips to protect yourself from the scam
The news release says Koster offers consumers the following tips:
- Consumers should never give out personal or financial information over the phone, especially when you do not know who the person is.
- The IRS will not call and demand immediate payment. The IRS, and other legitimate government agencies, will first send correspondence or a bill in the mail.
- The IRS will not demand that you pay outstanding taxes in a particular way, for example, by prepaid debit card.
- The scammers use caller-ID spoofing to falsify the information and disguise their identity. The calls often feature a 202 area code, making it appear as though the call is originating from Washington D.C., but they may really be calling from elsewhere in the U.S., or even overseas.
- The IRS and other legitimate government agencies will not exert high-pressure tactics to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.
If you receive a call you believe to be a scam, contact the Missouri Attorney General’s Office No-Call Hotline at 866-Buzzoff (866-289-9633) or file a complaint online.
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