COLUMBUS Ga. – It’s tax season and some folks in our area are receiving phone calls from people posing to be from the IRS. Melissa Rogers, a mother of five, received 3 missed calls from an unfamiliar number. She immediately listened to her voicemail and heard this.

“This call is officially a final notice from the IRS, internal revenue service. The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filing a lawsuit against you…”

Most people are frantically trying to make the April 15th tax deadline. E-filing has speeded up the filing process, but it’s also opened up more opportunities for scammers to try and steal your identity and your money. Leonard Crain with the Better Business Bureau says he’s received a lot of phone calls about these scam artists pretending to be from the IRS.

“Beware if you get a phone call from someone telling you, that you owe back taxes, you’re going to go to jail, you need to do something immediately. Make sure you do nothing. They’re going to try and get you to wire money or they’re going to get you to buy a prepaid card or they’re going to ask you for a credit card number to pay those taxes,” said Crain.

The internal revenue Service issued a consumer alert on its website, warning taxpayers that it is seeing more scammers posing as the IRS or tax software companies. The IRS also warns you that the links included in emails may include malware that can infect your computer.

If you have received one of these phone calls you can report it to the better business bureau or the financial crimes unit at your local police department.