PLEASE SHARE: ATTORNEY GENERAL PATRICK MORRISEY WARNS EASTERN PANHANDLE CONSUMERS ABOUT PHONE SCAMMERS POSING AS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CHARLESTON — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey today cautioned citizens about a phone scam occurring in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle in which a caller pretends to work for the Internal Revenue Service or other governmental agency and threatens residents with arrest or other punishment if they don’t pay a certain sum using a pre-paid debit card or money order. “This scam was going on in the winter and now seems to have returned to the Eastern Panhandle,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “Our Office has received calls from consumers, as well as local law enforcement, letting us know about this. We will continue to work with law enforcement as we can to put a stop to this kind of scam.” In the scam, a caller says he or she is a federal agent, gives a badge number, a “federal employee number,” and may cite a fictitious case number. The caller then informs the consumer that the consumer owes back taxes and can pay it off immediately using prepaid debt cards. The consumer is told to purchase the cards at a local store then call “Officer George Burns” at a specific number to pay the taxes in a private and confidential matter. To read the full release, please go to bit.ly/1pUPshj
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 20:36:10 +0000