Louisiana Taxpayers Targeted By Scam Artists

The Louisiana Department of Revenue has put out a warning that some Louisiana taxpayers are being targeted by scam artists. LDR spokesperson Byron Henderson says one woman in East Baton Rouge parish received a phone call in which she was told she was prequalified for a program that could help her resolve a tax lien.

“They told her all she had to do was pay them a fee. The taxpayer was a little suspicious. So she contacted her CPA, who investigated and discovered that the offer was fraudulent,” Henderson said.

Henderson says scammers often use public information to target a taxpayer. He says another method tries to convince people to reveal private financial information, which is called ‘phishing.’

“This is a case of people looking for personal financial information that they can use to engage in identity theft and other kinds of fraud,” Henderson said.

Many of these scam artists claim to be with the Department of Revenue, the IRS, or other state agencies. Henderson says they will never contact a taxpayer to request personal information over the phone, instead they will typically request some form of documentation.

“We will ask the taxpayer to submit that documentation to us by mail to our P.O. Box or by a fax number that we will provide to them,” Henderson said.