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ND – Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem warns all North Dakotans that scam artists are now so desperate to find new victims that they are claiming to be calling from the Attorney General’s office.

Stenehjm said if you get a call from someone claiming to be from the Attorney General’s office, demanding that you cooperate with a supposed IRS enforcement agent or that you pay up, it is a scam. He said hang up immediately, even if the number looks as if it is my office calling.

According to information reported to Stenehjem’s office Friday, May 22, the phony IRS agent told the skeptical individual that if he didn’t cooperate, the Attorney General’s office would be calling next. A few minutes later, he received a call from someone claiming to be from the Attorney General’s office, threatening enforcement action. The individual hung up on the scam artist but became concerned when he realized the number that had displayed on his caller ID is the number for the Attorney General’s office.

Attorney General Stenehjem reminds North Dakota consumers:

•          The real IRS does not notify you of a potential problem by leaving a threatening phone message. That’s how you know it is a scam.

•          The Attorney General’s office does not make threatening phone calls on behalf of the IRS. If you receive a threatening call from someone claiming to be from this office, it is a scam.

•          Never confirm or provide personal information in response to these scam calls.

Parrell Grossman, director of the Consumer Protection division, said the scam artists use spoofing technology to display a number that is not the actual number the scam artist is using, making it nearly impossible to trace the calls.