Tax Seasons Makes Consumers More Vulnerable to Scams ...

Tax season is upon us, and in between the groans of procrastination and anticipation, consumers should be wary of the increased threat of tax scams. Scammers work year-round, but cash-strapped consumers are often more vulnerable around mid-April when taxes are due.

?Tax season can be a particularly active time for identity thieves because tax returns contain all the information they need ? Social Security numbers, names, addresses, employer information, investment account numbers ? to open fraudulent accounts in a taxpayer?s name or steal a taxpayer?s income tax refund,? said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in a February press release.

Particularly rampant during this time period are IRS impostor scams. Consider this scenario: you receive an email from what appears to be the IRS saying that you have an error in your tax return or you are eligible for a larger refund. You click the link, enter your bank account, Social Security number, user ID and password. Watch as your bank account balance evaporates.

?Scammers may also send bogus text messages that claim to be from the IRS. By send?ing unsolicited tax-related text messages, identity thieves are attempting to exploit taxpay?ers who believe that only a legitimate contact ? like an IRS agent ? would have their mobile phone number. Unfor?tunately, this false sense of se?curity makes taxpayers more likely to click on a link in the bogus text message,? Abbott said.

True to bureaucratic form, the IRS will only communicate with taxpayers using the good old US Postal Service snail mail, and they will never initiate contact by email or social media tools to request personal or financial information. The IRS does not send emails stating you are being electronically audited or that you are getting a refund. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels.

Earlier this month, consumers across the nation received fraudulent email supposedly from Intuit, the tax preparer software that produces Turbotax. Delivered from the address update@intutit.com or security@intuit.com, with the subject line ?Please verify your tax information asap,? or ?Tax information needed within 30 days,? the email was a phishing scam that directed consumers to update their Social Security number and employer ID number on a third-party website that would download a virus onto the victim?s computer.

The IRS says you might have spotted a scam if you encounter email that:

Requests detailed or an unusual amount of personal and or financial information such as name, Social Security Number, bank or credit card account numbers or security related information, such as mother?s maiden name, either in email or on another site linked to the email.

Dangles bait to get the recipient to respond to the email such as mentioning a tax refund or offering to pay the recipient to participate in an IRS survey.

Threatens a consequence for not responding such as additional taxes, garnishing wages or blocking access to funds.

Incorrectly states the Internal Revenue Service or other federal agency names.

Uses incorrect grammar or odd phrasing (many email scams originate overseas and are written by non-native English speakers)

Uses a really long address in any link contained in the email message or one that does not start with the actual IRS website address www.irs.gov.

What to do:

• Avoid opening any attachments to the email, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
• Avoid clicking on any links, because they may be connected to phony IRS sites.
• Visit www.irs.gov to use the ?Where?s my Refund? tool to determine if you are really getting a refund, rather than responding to the email message.
• Forward suspicious email or url addresses to the IRS mailbox phishing@irs.gov then delete the message.
• Consumers who believe they are victims of identity theft other scams may bisit the US Federal Trade Commission at www.OnGuardOnline.gov.

Related:?Don?t Trust Yourself to Do Your Own Taxes?: IRS Gives Tips to Find Trustworthy Tax Professionals

? Elise Rambaud Marrion

Source: http://www.cmn.com/2012/02/tax-seasons-makes-consumers-more-vulnerable-to-scams/

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