Tax time has become a great time of the year for scammers to impersonate IRS personnel to take both your money and your identity. Recent publicity about COVID-19 unemployment insurance fraud has been an early warning of stealing from taxpayers.
Fake IRS Text Message. But
there is more! The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has sent out a warning
about an IRS text scam that claims your federal tax return has been rejected by
the IRS. ITRC provided an example of this scam text as seen below.
The main objective of the text is to collect your identity
information when you click on a link or call a number provided by the scammer.
The IRS points out that it will not initiate contact
by email, text message or social media to request your personal or financial
information. Your tax filer might use text to communicate with you, but the IRS
will not.
Ghost Tax Preparers. Also,
the IRS warns taxpayer not to use “ghost” tax return preparers. A ghost tax
return preparer is someone who you pay to prepare your tax return who refuses
to sign the return as the person who prepared it. According to federal law,
anyone who is paid to prepare or assist in preparing a federal tax return is
supposed to have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and must sign the
return and provide their PTIN.
Unscrupulous tax return preparers may also,
·
Require payment in cash only and not provide
a receipt.
·
Invent income to qualify their clients for
tax credits.
·
Claim fake deductions to boost the size of
the refund.
·
Direct refund into their bank account, not
the taxpayer’s account.
Identity Theft Resource Center:
IRS:
https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/beware-of-ghost-preparers-who-dont-sign-tax-returns
Federal Trade Commission:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/02/top-frauds-2020?utm_source=govdelivery
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