People from all over the country are falling victim to a recent phone scam by scammers pretending to be IRS agents. That's the word from Jessie Schmidt of the Better Business Bureau in Sioux Falls!

Jessie says these IRS impersonators are calling up their targets, unsuspecting taxpayers, and demanding that they pay taxes they don't even owe, by either loading money on a prepaid card or sending it via a wire transfer.  Those who refuse to pay immediately, according to Jessie, are then threatened by the so called IRS agents.  The threats include jail time or the suspension of the victim's business or driver's license.

Jessie offers these tips in order to protect yourself from this IRS scam:

Never give any money or credit card information over the phone.

Never trust callers who use threats and hostility to bully their targets into doing what they want.  This is a tactic many scammers use.

Be skeptical of what a caller claims he or she can do if you refuse to meet their demand.  An IRS agent will not get the police involved just because you owe money.

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