Once again, it’s tax season and the IRS recently announced that phishing scams increased 60 per cent from 2016 to 2017. But that is not the only way tax fraud and scams arrive, they come by telephone and mail too. Their websites are state-of-the-art and support the scammers claims. The IRS says taxpayers should be on constant guard for schemes that look like they are from the IRS. Emails “from” the IRS, promising a large refund or emails threaten people are a common practice. People who receive them should not open the attachments or click on any link. The IRS never makes demands via email or telephone.
The phone scams often are calls demanding immediate payment and using threats of arrest, deportation or license revocation against the person if they don’t pay. The caller becomes more and more belligerent until the person pays or hangs up. They often have some of the person’s personal information leading the taxpayer into believing they are, but they are not and the taxpayer needs to remain calm and hang up the phone.
Not only will the IRS will never demand taxes be paid over the phone, they will not ask for credit or debit cards on a call or in an email. And, of course, they will not send local police to arrest the taxpayer. Although this sounds simple, they use scare tactics and too many people are over taken by fear and fall prey. If ever in doubt, call the IRS.
What do you do to protect yourself?
File early! The earlier you file, the less time there is for someone else to file a fraudulent return in your name. As of now, there is no way to find out if someone has already filed a tax return using your Social Security number until you send in your own.
Request an IRS PIN number. The IRS issues victims of tax identity theft a six-digit Identity Protection PIN for use in filing returns once cases have been resolved. Returns can’t be filed without the number, and the taxpayer receives a new one every year. But you don’t have to be a victim to obtain such a PIN. All taxpayers can get a PIN. The form is IRS 14039 and can be obtained by clicking: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf. Victims of Income Tax Refund Fraud check Box 1 and non-victims check Box 2. For security reasons the form must be mailed to the IRS and the IRS will send the PIN number back by mail.
If You Become a Victim:
Act quickly and don’t expect speedy resolution. The IRS has a list of steps for victims to take at www.irs.gov before calling the agency. They include filing a police report, an affidavit with the IRS and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission; contacting the three major credit-reporting companies to place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit records; and closing any fraudulent accounts opened in your name.
Victims may want to impose a credit freeze with the credit-reporting firms, which can prevent extensions of credit using their identity.
The IRS says they should file their tax returns on paper. It can take three to six months or more to resolve each case. The IRS says that the legitimate tax refunds aren’t paid until a case is closed. Take steps now to avoid this happening to you or a loved-one.
On-going:
Be vigilant when using your computer. Delete “cookies” every day!! Use strong passwords – that include letters, numbers and characters and change them frequently. Do not store your passwords on your computer. Keep them in a “Rolodex” type file and/or use a password management system such as “Lastpass.”
Update computer applications, especially antivirus software, and make sure that your Wi-Fi access is password-protected.
Be careful with paper mail, especially during this period when sensitive tax documents arrive. Guard against theft of such documents and be careful when disposing of them, as thieves can make use of partial information such as a date of birth or bank account numbers. Always shred these items with a cross-cut shredder.
The seniors in your life need to be educated on these and reminded often as they are the most vulnerable.
