The co-owner of a Fort Dodge business said Thursday that a phone number connected to her business has been used in a scam that’s affected people across the state.

Kathy Salgren, co-owner of Flannery Tax and Bookkeeping, said she took about 40 phone calls Thursday from people saying someone called from that number and tried to scam them.

“Our business and personal line are on the same system,” Salgren said. “But it was our second line, our personal phone number, that got used to mask their phone number and it’s calling people all over Iowa.”

She said the calls she’s taken have included people from Boone, Madrid and Council Bluffs.

Salgren said no one from her business has called any of those people.

“I wasn’t the one calling, but my phone number was being used,” she said.

And it’s not just a single phone call. Salgren said one woman who reported the scam said someone called from the Flannery number three times.

The scam victims who have contacted Salgren have said the scammers vary in what they tell the victims.

“One lady said it was the IRS, one told me it was collection agencies,” Salgren said. “And they’re threatening.”

Salgren said one of the people who contacted her was nearly in tears because the scammer claimed the victim’s husband, who had just had major surgery, owed them money.

Salgren said she worked to calm the victim down.

“Don’t let them get you worked up, because it’s not worth it,” she said.

But she added it’s frustrating because these scammers make it so no one can trust anyone who calls them anymore.

“I know it sounds terrible, but don’t trust anybody on the phone,” Salgren said.

She believes if the scammers are ignored, they may eventually go away.