Scam artists are becoming more bold and clever in disguising their fraudulent activity and are increasingly targeting vulnerable populations, like our seniors.

I urge all Southwest Michigan taxpayers to look out for two new phone scams. Criminals are using a cloned Department of Treasury office telephone number or a cloned Michigan State Police phone number to call residents and claim they owe taxes.

The scammers mimic the phone numbers on the victim’s caller ID, so they think the Treasury or state police are calling them.

Under the scams, victims are told they owe money and that it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses, they are threatened with arrest, legal action or suspension of a business.

The Michigan State Police will never call anyone and demand money. The Department of Treasury will never demand immediate payment without first mailing you a letter and will never threaten to call the police to arrest you for not paying.

The Treasury will not require that residents pay taxes a certain way or ask for personal financial information like PIN numbers, passwords or similar confidential access information for credit card, bank or other accounts.

Anyone contacting you claiming to be from the Treasury or the state police and asking for personal information or threatening you in any way is a fraud. Hang up and report it.

Residents who suspect that they are being contacted as part of the Treasury phone scam should request the caller’s name, a call-back number and their specific location. Then residents should hang up and call the Department of Treasury at (517) 636-5265 to determine if the caller is truly a Treasury employee.

Anyone who believes they have been a victim of these scams may report it by contacting my office at (517) 373-6960. We have been able to help constituents facing these types of scams get the help they need to straighten things out and protect themselves in the future.

 

Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, represents Southwest Michigan.