Look Who's Calling....

You have probably received one of those infamous e-mails now that are plaguing the IRS and creating Identity Theft.  They are pretty wide spread now.  Tax preparer like me were getting multiple of these per day for quite a while.


Identity theft often starts outside of the tax administration system when someone’s personal information is unfortunately stolen or lost. Identity thieves may then use a taxpayer’s identity to fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund. In other cases, the identity thief uses the taxpayer’s personal information in order to get a job. The legitimate taxpayer may be unaware that anything has happened until they file their return later in the filing season and it is discovered that two returns have been filed using the same Social Security number.

The IRS wants you to know:
1. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email 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.

2. If you receive a scam e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.


3. If you discover a website that claims to be the IRS but does not begin with ‘www.irs.gov,’ forward that link to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

4. To learn how to identify a secure website, visit the Federal Trade Commission at www.onguardonline.gov/tools/recognize-secure-site-using-ssl.aspx.

See, even the IRS has to deal with computer hackers and scammer!  So beware of who is asking you for information. 
 
Author:  Kathleen