Treasury alerts residents to debt payment scam

The Michigan Department of Treasury is asking residents to be alert for a new scam that implies the federal government will pay their outstanding state tax debts or other state debts.

Within the last month, the state Treasury Department has noticed an increase in cases where individuals are attempting to pay their outstanding state debts with routing numbers from two U.S. Department of Treasury Bureaus – the Financial Management Service (FMS) and the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD).

Individuals are using these federal routing numbers with their Social Security number as the checking account number and listing the bank as either the FMS or the BPD.

As a part of this scam, the U.S. Department of Treasury warns that groups are holding seminars throughout the U.S. that fraudulently teach attendees to use these federal routing numbers to resolve their outstanding government debts.

“Please do not fall for this scam,” said Deputy Treasurer Ann Good, head of Treasury’s Financial and Administrative Services Group. “Individuals who try to pay their state debts in this way will have their payment rejected. Treasury will work with you to resolve your outstanding debts.”

Individuals who think they may have an outstanding state tax debt or other state debt are encouraged to call state Treasury Department’s Office of Collections at 517.636.5265.

For additional information about state tax debt or other state debt collections, visit www.michigan.gov/treasury.