ST. CLOUD -- The Stearns County Sheriff's office is warning you about a recent phone scam that's circulating around the St. Cloud metro area.

Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson says scammers are calling people and telling them they have pending criminal charges against them. The scammer then directs the person to contact the IRS at a provided number or be subject to arrest.

Authorities say these calls are not authentic and are only being used as a way for the scammer to get money out of you. The IRS doesn't contact people this way.

Gudmundson says if you do receive a call like this, hang up. In some cases, people have received multiple calls. However, it's not necessary to call authorities at this point since they have several reports already filed.

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