Don't be a Scam Victim Thieves use taxpayers’ natural fear of the IRS and other government entities to ply their scams, including e-mail and phone scams, to steal your money. They also use phishing schemes to trick you into divulging your SSN, date of birth, account numbers, passwords and other personal data that allows them to scam the IRS and others using your name and destroy your credit in the process. They are clever and are always coming up with new and unique schemes to trick you. These scams have reached epidemic proportions, and this article will hopefully provide you with the knowledge to identify scams and avoid becoming a victim. The very first thing you should be aware of is that the IRS never initiates contact in any other way than by U.S. mail. So if you receive an e-mail or a phone call out of the blue with no prior contact, then it is a scam. DO NOT RESPOND to the e-mail or open any links included in the e-mail. If it is a phone call, simply HANG UP. Additionally, it is important for taxpayers to know that the IRS: Never asks for credit card, debit card, or prepaid card information over the telephone. Never insists that taxpayers use a specific payment method to pay tax obligations. Never requests immediate payment over the telephone. Will not take enforcement action immediately following a phone conversation. Taxpayers usually receive prior written notification of IRS enforcement action involving IRS tax liens or levies. Phone ScamsPotential phone scam victims may be told that they owe money that must be paid immediately to the IRS or, on the flip side, that they are entitled to big refunds. When unsuccessful the first time, sometimes phone scammers call back trying a new strategy. Other characteristics of these scams include: Scammers use fake names and IRS badge numbers. They generally use common names and surnames to identify themselves. Scammers may be able to recite the last four digits of a victim’s Social Security number. Make sure you do not provide the rest of the number or your birth date. That is information ID thieves can use to make your life miserable. Scammers alter the IRS toll-free number that shows up on caller ID to make it appear that the IRS is calling. Scammers sometimes send bogus IRS e-mails to some victims to support their bogus calls. Victims hear background noise of other calls being conducted to mimic a call site. • After threatening victims with jail time or driver’s license revocation, scammers hang up, and others soon call back pretending to be from the local police or DMV, and the caller ID supports their claim. DON’T GET HOODWINKED. This is a scam. If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, DO NOT give the caller any information or money. Instead, you should immediately hang up. Call this office if you are concerned about the validity of the call. E-Mail PhishingAlways remember, the first contact you will receive from the IRS will be by U.S. mail. If you receive e-mail or a phone call claiming to be from the IRS, consider it a scam. Do not respond or click through to any embedded links. Instead, help the government combat these scams by forwarding the e-mail to phishing@irs.gov. Unscrupulous people are out there dreaming up schemes to get your money. They become very active toward the end of the year and during tax season. They create bogus e-mails disguised as authentic e-mails from the IRS, your bank, or your credit card company, none of which ever request information that way. They are trying to trick you into divulging personal and financial information they can use to invade your bank accounts, make charges against your credit card or pretend to be you to file phony tax returns or apply for loans or credit cards. Don’t be a victim. STOP-THINK-DELETE. Scammers become very active toward the end of the year and during tax season. What they try to do is trick you into divulging your personal information such as bank account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc. You need to be very careful when responding to e-mails asking you to update such things as your account information, pin number, password, etc. First and foremost, you should be aware that no legitimate company would make such a request by e-mail. If you get such e-mails, they should be deleted and ignored just like spam e-mails. We have seen bogus e-mails that looked like they were from the IRS, well-known banks, credit card companies and other pseudo-legitimate enterprises. The intent is to trick you and have you click through to a website that also appears legitimate where they have you enter your secure information. Here are some examples: E-mails that appeared to be from the IRS indicating you have a refund coming and they need information to process the refund. The IRS never initiates communication via e-mail! Right away, you know it is bogus. If you are concerned, please feel free to call this office. E-mails from a bank indicating it is holding a wire transfer and needs your bank routing information and account number. Don’t respond; if in doubt, call your bank. E-mails saying you have a foreign inheritance and they need your bank info so they can wire the funds. The funds that will get wired are yours going the other way. Remember, if it is too good to be true, it generally is not true. We could go on and on with examples. The key here is for you to be highly suspicious of any e-mail requesting personal or financial information. Whats In Your Wallet?What is in your wallet or purse can make a big difference if it is stolen. Besides the credit cards and whatever cash or valuables you might be carrying, you also need to be concerned about your identity being stolen, which is a far more serious problem. Thieves can use your identity to set up phony bank accounts, take out loans, file bogus tax returns and otherwise invade your finances, and all an identity thief needs to be able to do these things is your name, Social Security number, and birth date. Think about it: your driver’s license has two of the three keys to your identity. And if you also carry your Social Security card, bingo! An identity thief then has all the information he needs. You can always cancel stolen credit cards or close compromised bank and charge accounts, but when someone steals your identity and opens accounts you don’t know about, you can’t take any mitigating action.