TAX SCAMS- A Yearly Danger

One of the bread-and-butter scams that fraudsters use involves the IRS and the requirement to file our income tax returns by April 15 of every year. Fraudsters have developed several tactics to steal your money while impersonating IRS personnel or to impersonate you to claim refunds in your name.

Most of their scams involve tricking you into sending money or your personal information to the scammer who is impersonating the IRS. But one scam involves the scammer impersonating you:

·         Tax Identity Theft. Scammers will obtain your personal information such as Social Security Number, birth date, etc. They might purchase it on the dark web. Or they might obtain it from corrupt tax preparers, from phishing campaigns, hacks of tax firms or employers’ personnel records, or mail theft. They will use your information to file a tax return with the IRS early in the year to so that the IRS receives it before you file your income tax return. The fraudster will claim deductions so that they receive a refund. You will not know that they have claimed this money in your name until you receive a notice that the IRS has already received “your return.”

 

Other methods have the scammers, impersonating the IRS, contacting you to send them money:

·         Fake IRS phone calls or emails. Scammers will claim that you owe back taxes or fees then demand immediate payment with gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.

·         Phishing scams. Scammers send emails or texts impersonating the IRS and try to trick you into sending them your personal information.

·         Pandemic Relief Scams. Scammers will claim that you have been overpaid for Employee Retention Credits or stimulus payments that you received and demand that you repay some or all.

·         Online Tax Filing Scams. Scammers will create a fake tax filing website that will look like well known, trusted services then steal the information that you upload.

 

What can you do to prevent being victimized by a tax scammer? The National Security Alliance makes the following recommendations,

·         File your taxes as early as you can.

·         Secure your return with an IRS IP PIN. An Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) is a six-digit code that prevents unauthorized tax filings using your Social Security number. You can apply for an IP PIN through the IRS.

·         Enable multifactor authentication (MFA). Use MFA on all tax related accounts including your IRS account.

·         Be alert to tax scams and phishing. Some red flags include:

o   Unsolicited IRS communications. The IRS never initiates contact via email, text, or social media. If the IRS wants to contact you, it will send you a letter via snail mail.

o   Urgency and threats. Scammers often use scare tactics to get you emotional, such as threats of arrest or financial penalties to get you to act quickly and without thinking.

o   Requests for sensitive information. If an email or phone call asks for your social Security number, banking details, or login credentials don’t respond. Delete the email or hang up.

o   Watch for phishing emails or texts. Inspect any emails/texts to ensure they are not a phishing email/text. Links and attachments within the message can collect your sensitive information or download malware onto your device.

·         Ask your tax preparer about their cybersecurity practices.

·         Use secure methods to send tax documents such as encrypted email or a secure file-sharing portal that your tax provider provides.

·         Back up your tax records.

 

 

Scam Busters:

https://scambusters.org/taxscam2025.html

 

United States Postal Inspection Service:

https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/fraudulent-tax-returns-and-refunds

 

AARP:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/tax-id/?intcmp=AE-FWN-LIB4-POS7

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/tax-preparation/?intcmp=AE-FWN-LIB4-POS8

 

Federal Trade Commission:

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/01/irs-doesnt-send-tax-refunds-email-or-text

 

IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/help/tax-scams/recognize-tax-scams-and-fraud

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dirty-dozen-beware-of-abusive-tax-avoidance-schemes

 

National Cybersecurity Alliance:

https://www.staysafeonline.org/articles/tax-season-security-tips

 

Identity Theft Resource Center:

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/podcast/fraudian-slip-podcast-internal-revenue-service-tax-scams-fraud/

 

 

 

MONEY MULES- A Scammer’s Trap

Scammers usually are after one or two things from their victims- their money, and/or their personal information to steal more money. Sometimes a scammer will take your money and ID then they will try to get you to help them launder the stolen money from other victims.

Laundering money is important to a fraudster to disguise the fact the money is stolen. The stolen money is moved through a series of accounts and steps to a legitimate (or legitimate seeming) account that the fraudster controls. By taking steps to hide the origins of the stolen money, the fraudster makes it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to track the stolen money and show that it came from a criminal enterprise.

One tool to help with this process is a money mule. Traditionally, a money mule was a person who physically moved cash from one place to another. Money mules still exist, only now they may move cash, but they also can move money electronically from one account to another.

Fraudsters can use people who they hire or control and who know they are laundering money (the FBI refers to these people as complicit). Fraudsters can also trick a person into acting as a money mule (or being an unwitting actor) through a scam such as a romance scam or through a job offer.

Job offers might be an “easy” work-at-home “opportunity” as a “finance officer” or “money processing agent.” If you take the job, you might find that all you have to do is receive money that you deposit in your own bank account from people or entities that you do not know, then transfer the money to other people or entities that you do not know.

Fraudsters also recruit money mules through romance scams. At some point, not always right away, they may ask you to accept some money in your personal account, then transfer it to someone else that you do not know.

While the fraudster may have a cover story for why he/she would like you to help move this money, its real sources come from crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, or other financial crimes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, fraudsters used money mules to launder stolen relief funds such as unemployment benefits and small business loans.

Some signs of a money mule scam include,

·         You are asked to use your personal bank account or create an account in your name to receive money from someone you have never met.

·         You may be told to keep a portion of the money that they transfer.

·         Your new “employer” communicates with you via a common web-based email service such as Gmail or Microsoft Outlook.

·         You receive an unsolicited email or social media message that promises easy money for little or no effort.

Being a money mule, unwitting or complicit, can put you in serious legal jeopardy. The FBI warns that you can be prosecuted and incarcerated for participating in a criminal money laundering conspiracy. You can be charged with federal crimes such as mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. Your credit and financial standing can also be damaged. In addition, the fraudsters can steal your personal information to use in their other criminal schemes and you could be held personally liable for repaying money lost by victims. In many cases, the fraudsters who you were working for have disappeared, leaving you to hold the “bag” when law enforcement authorities knock on your door.

If you think that you are being or have been recruited to work as a money mule report it to,

·         The Washington State Attorney General’s Office- https://www.atg.wa.gov/contactus.aspx

·         The FBI-

o   Internet Crime complaint Center- https://www.ic3.gov/

o   Seattle Field Office- https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/seattle

·         Federal Trade Commission- https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

·         United States Postal Inspection Service, if the scammers contacted you through the mail-

o   Call- 877-876-2455

o   Or file online- https://www.uspis.gov/report

 

 

  

 

United States Postal Inspection Service:

https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/money-mule

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation:

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/money-mules

 

AARP:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/money-mule-scams/

 

AARP The Perfect Scam-

While I have been focusing on money mules, people can be recruited to move other illegal goods such as stolen merchandise or illegal drugs. This episode describes how easy it is to get caught up in becoming a mule and the serious consequences if apprehended, in this case a foreign country.

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2025/blind-mule-drug-trafficking-scam.html

 

Federal Trade Commission:

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2020/03/whats-money-mule-scam

 

South Snohomish County Crime Watch-

https://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2019/12/money-mules-helping-scammers-steal.html

 

Investopedia-

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moneylaundering.asp

 

 

SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Car Thefts, While Down, Remain Top Investigated Crime

The Sheriff’s Office’s crime prevention newsletter, “Partners in Crime Prevention,” has been posted. It points out that the number of car theft cases that the Sheriff’s Office investigated in 2024 are down over the pandemic years, but car theft remains the top investigated crime for the Sheriff’s Office.

This issue of the newsletter has reminders of practical measures that you can take to prevent your vehicle from theft.

 

 

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:

https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7240