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Scammers using gov. letterheads to steal money, Mo. AG says

Attorney General Chris Koster, who will prosecute the case.
Attorney General's Office
Attorney General Chris Koster, who will prosecute the case.

The latest scam designed to separate Missouri residents from their money involves phony letters from the State Attorney General’s office, theIRSand other government agencies.

The letters include a fake government letterhead, and state that the recipient has won a million dollars or more in prize money.  Attorney General Chris Koster(D) says the intended victims are then informed that they owe thousands of dollars in taxes and fees on the winnings and are instructed to pay them via Western Union.

“I have in my hand a letter from ‘the FBI,'" Koster said.  "(It) claims that, ‘you have won $3.5 million, but you owe $2,600 in a winner’s fee, and you need to submit it' to this address, which so far we have traced to Florida.”

Koster advises anyone who receives one of these letters to save the paperwork and contact the Missouri Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.

“It’s a new variation on an old scheme, but the blatancy with which these letters are claiming government legality is stunning," Koster said.  "If you weren’t familiar with the actual letterhead of these organizations, it would actually look very close…but these letters are absolutely false.”

Koster is seeking re-election as Missouri Attorney General this fall.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.