Kirksville City officials alerted residents this Wednesday of a government impersonation scam, with fraudsters posing as officials to demand money from citizens.
In a Facebook post, Kirksville officials warned residents that people are impersonating the city’s Community and Economic Development Director, using a false email and a fake signature to request that people pay money to appear on the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting agenda.
Austin Miller is the communications director for Kirksville and said so far, no residents have lost money. But he encourages everyone to remain vigilant.
“We hadn't seen anything like that before that seems pretty sophisticated,” Miller said. “To be looking at publicly available documents, to then look for potentially vulnerable people that they identify as such.”
In the online post, the city recommends that residents check for a .gov in city emails and assures residents that the city will never ask for a wire transfer. It also urges residents to reach out and contact the city directly if they have any scamming concerns. The culprit of the recent scam has not yet been identified.
But this incident is just one of several scams throughout the state.
Missourians have lost more than $92 million to scams this year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
JoDonn Chaney is the director of strategy and communications for the Missouri Department of Revenue, and he said anyone can be targeted. He said toll scams in particular are especially prevalent and that people should beware of texts and calls demanding toll payments.
“Be very cautious when we get any kind of message talking about we owe a bill,” Chaney said. “Unless you know that it is legitimate,from the source, be cautious.”
Chaney said if people discover they’ve been scammed, they should cancel the transaction with their credit card companies. He said the department will never contact people via text message, and people should not expect to be contacted unless they’ve recently been to a toll booth.
