Montanans Warned About IRS Scams in Midst of Consumer Protection Week

Scams are so prevalent, that the U.S. now has a whole week dedicated to trying to prevent folks from being victimized by charlatans.  Anastasia Burton from the Montana Attorney General’s Office is warning folks to be aware of the wide array of scams popping up in the state.

“This week is National Consumer Protection week and Attorney General Fox is reminding Montanans to take a look at different ways you can protect yourself and your family from different scams,” said Burton. “This time of year we always see an uptick in IRS scams. People are getting calls from people who claim to be from a government agency.”

Tips for avoiding IRS Scams include knowledge that the IRS will never call and demand immediate payment or threaten immediate police over the phone. When citizens catch a scammer in the act, the first move should be to cut off communication.

“We you realize that you are being scammed just hang up the phone, there is no need to continue the conversation any further,” Burton said. “Folks, if they would like to, can call their local law enforcement agency and just report it. Sometimes people will reach out to us and call our office of consumer protection and again that gives us sort of a heads up in terms of trends that are happening in different parts of the state.”

Office of Consumer Protection investigators always attempting to stamp out scam activity in Montana, they can be reached with complaints and reports at (406) 444-4500.