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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued warnings about a scam involving fake IRS calls. Stenehjem reminds consumers that these calls are fake. He says the IRS does not use threatening phone calls to notify taxpayers of potential problems with their tax return.

The scam artists pretend to be IRS enforcement agents and claim the only way the victim can avoid being arrested for tax fraud is to buy pre-paid instant cash cards such as the Greendot card and then read off the numbers from the back of the card. As soon as the scam artist has those numbers, they can go online and empty the card before the victim hangs up the phone.

Attorney General Stenehjem provided the following tips:

•          If you pick up the call, don’t respond to the scam artist – just hang up.

•          If you receive a message on your phone, delete it without response.

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

•          Don’t try to “play along” with the scam artist.

These scam calls have been circulating across the country for more than a year, although only in the last few months have North Dakota 701-area code telephone numbers been targeted.

Stenehjem said the scam artists are using spoofed telephone numbers so there is no way for his office to trace the calls because the number displayed is not the actual number the scam artist is using. Federal authorities believe the calls originate from outside the United States.