Senator Claire McCaskill visits Columbia, volunteers at middle school

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is volunteering at her former middle school Saturday morning.

The senator is speaking at the University of Missouri’s Care for Columbia on Tiger Plaza. 1500 students showed up to volunteer at 86 sites across the city. That’s more than Caring for Columbia has ever had in their 15 year history at Mizzou.

After McCaskill addressed the students, she went over to West Middle School, where she used to be a student, to help their gardening club with their own volunteer project.

Senator McCaskill has been serving in the US Senate since 2007. She is also one of the lawmakers leading the fight against tax scams.

ABC 17 News crews spoke with the senator about her work to try to fight scammers. The senator has asked the IRS to be more vigilant and come up with a plan to help protect and prevent citizens from becoming victims of identity theft.

She said people most at risk are the elderly. McCaskill says some scammers even go as far as targeting the elderly on dating websites to create a relationship with them before soliciting information from them.

ABC 17 News has been reporting all tax season about the different IRS scams people fall for and how they affect the local and national economy.