For Immediate Release
Date: January 29, 2008
Contact: David Griffith
Phone: (573) 751-8222
Department of Revenue Warns Missouri Taxpayers of Reported Scam Calls
JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Department of Revenue (Department) today announced that some Missouri taxpayers are reporting what appears to be a telephone scam. The “callers” are falsely identifying themselves as being with the “Revenue Department” so they can obtain sensitive financial information from taxpayers.
The callers are asking for customers’ “routing number”, and claim they are processing the previous years refund owed to the customer. The Missouri Department of Revenue would never call individual taxpayers requesting personal bank account routing numbers or credit card numbers to process an income tax refund. This information should only be provided if a Missourian initiates the contact with the Department.
“Missourians need to be cautious if asked to give out their personal financial information over the phone by someone claiming to be from the Department of Revenue,” Gov. Blunt said. “I have urged the Department to continue doing all it can to inform Missourians about this scam to protect taxpayers from fraud and identity theft.”
“We are concerned that scam artists purporting to be from the Department of Revenue could threaten the security of taxpayers’ information,” said Omar Davis, Director of Revenue. “These types of scam calls happen around this time of the year, and we want Missourians to be cautious before giving out any financial information over the phone in a call they did not initiate.”
The Department has contacted law enforcement in the states where these calls originated to seek their assistance. If customers receive these types of calls, they should NOT divulge any personal information to the caller. Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or (800) 392-8222. An additional web site is http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/tax_rebate_scam.html.
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