Phone Call Scams – Stearns County

Over the past several hours on Sept. 18, the Stearns County Communications Center has received multiple reports from citizens of an apparent phone scam. The scammers are calling telling people they have pending criminal charges against them. The scammer directs the subject to contact the IRS at a provided number or be subject to arrest. These calls are not authentic and should be disregarded as an attempt to convince you to send money to them. The IRS does not contact people by telephone in this manner. If you receive such a call, simply hang up and ignore the call. Some have reported receiving more than one call. All should be considered a scam. It is not necessary to report these calls to law enforcement as we have received multiple reports of this scam.