Presented by Mark Phillips
As part of our ongoing efforts to help keep your personal information as
safe as possible, we want to remind you to stay on the lookout for the many
e-mail, text message, and voicemail scams making the rounds in cyberspace
today.
Tax return scammers are starting their season early! Recent fraudulent
activity has involved
e-mails and phone calls claiming to come from the IRS
regarding tax refunds. Some fraudsters have been asking for sensitive
refund information over the phone or using e-mails stating that someone has
filed for the recipient’s refund and that he or she needs to click a
(malicious) link if he or she did not file for it. Common characteristics of
the scams include:
· The criminal may use a fake or common name and make up taxpayer
identification information.
· The scammer may know certain information about the recipient, such
as the last four digits of the recipient’s social security number or personal
e-mail address.
· The scammer may spoof his or her phone number so that appears to be
the IRS’s toll-free number and mimics actual IRS calls—complete with phone
conversations going on in the background.
· The criminal may follow up phone calls with e-mails to appear
legitimate.
· The scammer may threaten the recipient and scare him or her into
falling for the scheme. Such threats may include driver license revocation,
pretending to be a police officer, and so on.
Any phone calls or e-mails regarding your tax refund or that contain the
characteristics listed above should automatically raise a red flag.
Do not
provide any information to the caller, click on any links, or open any
attachments.
What to do if you receive a suspicious e-mail or phone call
If you receive an e-mail or phone call asking for information regarding
your tax refund, please
delete it from your inbox immediately—or hang up on
the caller—and don’t click on any links, open any attachments, provide any
information, or reply to the sender. Links and attachments could
potentially install malicious software onto your computer, and the sender or
caller could use your personal sensitive information to steal your identity or
actual tax refund.
Protect yourself
Keep in mind the following if you receive any suspicious phone calls or
e-mails regarding your tax return:
1. As noted above,
don’t click on any links or attachments within an
e-mail.
2.
Do not provide any information to the sender or caller if it is asked
for. Immediately hang up or delete the e-mail.
3. Call the IRS at 866.562.5227 if you are unsure of the legitimacy of an
e-mail or phone call.
4.
Prepare and file your tax returns as early as possible. This will
take away the scammer’s ability to file and steal your return. This will also
help you in detecting whether a call or e-mail is fraudulent or not. If someone
claims you need to provide him or her with information to file your return, and
you have already filed your return, you will know that the request is
fraudulent!
5. If you access a dangerous attachment or link, and believe a password-stealer
is running on your computer,
get in touch with a technology specialist.
6.
All unsolicited e-mails concerning password or account changes to any
of your online accounts—especially unsolicited e-mails that contain
attachments—
should be considered scams until verified. Open a new
browser and log in directly to the account in question to check the situation.
7.
Refer to the IRS’s “Dirty
Dozen Tax Scams for 2015” to get the 12 most common scam types that
have seen going around.
Rest assured that we are always concerned about information security. If you
have any questions, please contact us at 949.333.6394
