As the deadline for filing income taxes rapidly approaches, there are things you can do to protect yourself from scams and ID theft.
Tax fraud can happen any time of the year, but the IRS
reminds everyone that tax time is a period when it sees more phone scams than
other times of the year.
If the IRS wants to contact you, it will initiate
contact with a letter via the U.S. Postal Service, not via a phone call, email,
or text message. Also, the IRS will not demand immediate payment and will not
demand payment with gift cards, wire transfer, or crypto currency.
Some other red flags include,
·
Request for personal information such as
bank account information, Social Security numbers, login credentials or mailing
addresses.
·
Scare tactics- the IRS will not demand an
immediate response or use scare tactics such as threatening to throw you in
jail if you do not comply immediately.
·
Email with attachments- the IRS will not
send you an email with attachments, especially in an initial email. If you
receive an unexpected email claiming to be from the IRS with links or
attachments, delete the email. DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS OR ATTACHMENTS!
One way you can protect yourself from identity theft
is to get an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) as an extra layer of security to
protect yourself from scammers or fraudsters from using your Social Security
number to file an income tax return in your name. For more information about the
IP PIN check out this IRS link- https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin.
For more information on how you can protect yourself
from tax related fraud see the following links,
National Cybersecurity Alliance:
https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/online-safety-basics/tax-time-safety/
Identity Theft Resource Center:
https://www.idtheftcenter.org/tax-identity-theft/
IRS:
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayers-beware-tax-season-is-prime-time-for-phone-scams
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts
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