Its tax season again and as always the cyber scum is out to get you. No matter how many warnings are sent out to the tax paying workers of America there is always someone who gets taken (robbed) by a smooth talking criminal. They come at you through the phone, email, snail mail and a even knock at your door. And if you don’t know how to deal with them you are gonna lose money. In many cases a lot of money.
Tax seas0n is scam season so you need to be alert and aware of a few things. First of all make sure you know and completely understand how the IRS works, how they contact you and how they collect money. Without this knowledge you are gonna get robbed. Keep in that most four of five tax returns are filed electronically. Another fact; out of 10,000 scams tracked by the Better Business Bureau in 2015, nearly a fourth of are tax related.
Lets talk about how the criminals will come at you this tax season so you don’t become this years sucker.
Phone Extortion – Going back to 2003 there has been 900,000 phone calls to tax payers claiming to be the IRS and demanding immediate payment or the tax payer will face legal penalties or jail. The scam comes back every year, slightly modified but still the same scam and it still gets plenty of suckers.
Don’t be that sucker! The IRS will never call you and demand immediate payment…never! The IRS will send you a letter telling you if you have a tax bill. They will send you more letters if you ignore that one. The letter will have a contact number on it. If you ignore enough letters they will come registered mail. But any demand for immediate payment should be looked upon with deep suspicion. If you have any doubts call the IRS using the number on the website. Never return a call to a number the caller leaves you. Protect yourself and makes sure you know who you are talking to and never every give personal information to some you don’t know.
Phishing emails — Cyber criminals send these emails out by the millions. These scum can make a very real looking and exact copies of the IRS logo and website. Check you URL or web address carefully. You might find it reads www.irs.net or www.irs.us or some other deception. The IRS website address is www.irs.gov.
Don’t be that sucker! The IRS does not send you emails with links or attachments. The IRS does not send out emails period! Do not fill out any forms attached to an email as you may be giving out enough information to have your identity stolen. So if you get an IRS email delete it.
The name of the game when it come to your money and information is trust no one. Make them prove everything before you answer a question or send out a dime.
For more information check out these links.
IRS.gov – Taxes. Security. Together.
