Two Different Phone Scams Hit Montana – Both Ask for Money and Personal Info
There never seems to be time when someone isn’t trying to fraud someone else out of money or property, but the Montana Department of Justice and Attorney General Tim Fox said right now, the department is seeing a lot of activity with two specific telephone based scams. Fox explained the first:
"The Department of Corrections arrest warrant scam basically has callers that are telling perspective victims that they need to make a payment otherwise an arrest warrant will be issued for them, and that they will go to jail," Fox said. "Believe it or not, there are people that fall for that, particularly when you have a very, very aggressive scammer on the other line."
To report a scam, the Montana Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Protection can be reached at (800) 481-6896 or (406) 444-4500.
Another scam purports to be sent from the Internal Revenue Service.
"In this scam, the victims report that they get a call and they've been told that they're past due on their taxes," Fox said. "Often times, somehow, the callers have the last four numbers of the victim's social security number. They're even sophisticated enough that the caller ID that shows up on the victim's phone appears to be legitimate. It might look like it's an IRS caller."
Fox said to report this incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
If someone receives one of these calls, Fox said the best bet is to hang up. Above all, Fox said don’t give anyone money or credit card information over the phone. Hang up and call law enforcement immediately.
Attorney General Tim Fox: