Don’t Be Duped by Clever Scammers
You may think we harp on you a lot
about protecting yourself against identity theft and tax scams. You are right…
but we do it because having your identity stolen becomes an absolute financial
nightmare, sometimes taking years to straighten out. Identity thieves are
clever and relentless, and they are always coming up with new schemes to trick
you. And all you have to do is slip up just once to compromise your identity,
and your nightmare will begin.
What they try to do is trick you into divulging personal information such as
your bank account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, or Social Security
number.
One of the most popular methods these unscrupulous people use is requesting
your personal information by e-mail. They are pretty good at making their
e-mails look as if they came from a legitimate source such as the IRS, your
credit card company, or your bank.
You need to be very careful when responding to e-mails asking you to update
things such as your account information, personal identification number (PIN),
or password. First and foremost, you should be aware that no legitimate company
would make such a request by e-mail. If one does, the e-mail 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 appear to be from the IRS indicating you have a refund coming and claiming that additional information is needed to process the refund. The IRS never initiates communication via e-mail! If you receive this type of e-mail, right away, you should know that it is bogus. If you are concerned, please free to call this office.
- E-mails from a bank indicating that 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 that the sender needs your bank info to wire the funds. The funds that will get wired are yours going the other way. Remember: if it seems too good to be true, it generally is.
We have seen
cases where elderly individuals have been duped out of hundreds of thousands of
dollars, and sometimes their entire life savings. The scammers primarily rely
on individuals’ fear of the IRS, coupled with a phony urgent need to make a
payment to avoid arrest, foreclosure, or property seizure.
We could go on and on with examples. The key here is for you to be highly
suspect of any e-mail requesting personal or financial information or
requesting an immediate tax payment. Scammers will generally request payment be
made by gift card, which should be an immediate RED FLAG!
A good rule of thumb is to STOP – THINK – DELETE.
If you receive electronic correspondence from the IRS, your state taxing
agency, a credit card company, or a financial institution and feel
uncomfortable ignoring it, call this office to check so you won’t need to
worry.
Knowing that this is the time of year when the IRS sends correspondence to
taxpayers, scammers will send fake letters to trick people into making payments
on bogus tax liabilities. As a result, taxpayers need to be very careful to
avoid being hoodwinked by these thieves. The best practice is to have a tax
professional review any letter that you receive before you take any action. If
the letter is real, then it will require a timely response, but if it is fake,
it should be ignored.
Scammers have also been known to call individuals and threaten immediate arrest
if a payment related to a phony liability is not immediately made. Just the
threat of arrest is enough to know that the call is from a scammer, and you
should immediately hang up.
Bottom line: you must be on guard against these scammers at all times. Your
life can become a nightmare if your identity is stolen. Identity thieves will
even file tax returns under your Social Security number, claiming huge refunds
and leaving you with a horrendous mess to clean up with the IRS. Don’t be a
victim. Please call our office if you believe your tax ID has been compromised.