The Mower County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an elderly woman on Tuesday who was called by a scammer.

According to Mower County Chief Deputy Mark May, the call was a common scam where the caller claims to be the Internal Revenue Service. In this case, the woman was told she had an outstanding penalty from her 2017 taxes. The scammer asked for her bank routing number, threatening her with arrest if she did not pay. The woman did not give out the information, despite speaking with two “supervisors” who made the same threats. When she said she would call law enforcement, they tried to discourage her by claiming it would result in her immediate arrest.

May stated that the IRS never makes phone calls regarding outstanding payments, nor does it ask for personal information.

Anyone who receives a call similar to this scam may call the Law Enforcement Center at 507-437-9400.