April 2019 Tax Scam Edition
Scams Targeting Taxpayers
First Article: Scams to Avoid This Tax Season
Last May, cybercriminals used Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other PII to file nearly $50 millions in fraudulent tax returns. However, 2019 could be a terrible year for victims of tax fraud. That’s because reporting and correcting fraud will likely be more onerous. If you’ve ever been victimized, you know what a pain in the booty, and wallet, it is. With the IRS playing catch up after Government Shutdown, it would seem that scammers have plenty of opportunities to run rampant.
Each year, the IRS releases the top 12 scams, known as the Dirty Dozen. The schemes run the gamut from simple refund inflation to technical tax shelter deals.
Here’s a recap of this year’s Dirty Dozen:
- Phishing:Watch for fake emails or websites looking to steal personal information.
- Phone Scams: Phone calls from criminals impersonating IRS agents remain an ongoing threat to taxpayers.
- Identity Theft: Be alert to tactics aimed at stealing your identity.
- Return Preparer Fraud: Hire tax professionals.
- Fake Charities: If you are willing to make donation take a few extra minutes to make sure your money goes to legitimate charities.
- Inflated Refund Claims: Be wary of anyone promising inflated tax refunds. Some signs of this include preparers who ask clients to sign a blank return or those who promise a big refund before looking at taxpayer records.
- Excessive Claims for Business Credits: Avoid improperly claiming the fuel tax credit.
- Falsely Padding Deductions on Returns: Avoid the temptation to falsely inflate deductions or expenses.
- Falsifying Income to Claim Credits: Con artists may convince you to invent income to erroneously qualify for tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Frivolous Tax Arguments: Watch out and avoid frivolous tax arguments.
- Abusive Tax Shelters: If you use abusive tax structures do so to avoid paying taxes. The majority of taxpayers pay their fair share, and everyone should be on the lookout for people peddling tax shelters that sound too good to be true.
- Offshore Tax Avoidance: It’s a bad bet to hide money and income offshore. People involved in offshore tax avoidance are best served by voluntarily disclosing offshore money and getting caught up on their tax-filing responsibilities.
Sources: [1] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-dirty-dozen-watch-out-for-these-12 scams [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/business/breach-exposes-irs-tax-returns.html?_r=2
Second Article: Stay Safe online & Protect Your PII
While no one can be completely protected from identity theft, there are things you can do to protect yourself against this particular approach. Tax season is upon us—and there is nothing more critical than taking steps to protect your personally identifiable information (PII). While you may feel powerless against cybercriminals, taking bellow steps can be extremely effective in protecting yourself against fraud.
- Be careful about sharing your social security number.
The next time you are asked to share your Social Security details, stop and think. Identity theft relies on a valid Social Security number—the more organizations that have it, the less protected you are! - Lock down your social media accounts.
minimize your exposure. Make sure you’r Facebook, Twitter, and other social media privacy settings are locked down with two-factor authentication and resist the urge to share private information online. - Be wary of public Wi-Fi.
Public Wi-Fi can make traveling easier but be careful about how you use it. It’s pretty easy for criminals to set up a “free Wi-Fi” network, so before joining, confirm the name and password with the staff of the coffee shop or library. A VPN (virtual private network), which encrypts traffic between your device and the VPN server, is one of the best ways to keep your browsing session private. In addition, force your browser to use HTTPS. You can do this through an extension like HTTPS Everywhere. Finally, make sure you log off any services you were signed into and tell your device to “forget” the Wi-Fi network after you conclude your session. - Get creative with security questions.
The best way to keep bad guys from guessing answers to your security questions is to set up answers that you, and you alone, will know. - Use strong passwords.
Strong passwords are essential in protecting your security and identity online. But the characteristics that make passwords strong—twelve characters or more, symbols, numbers, capital letters, etc.—also makes them hard to remember. Here are some tips to help you: [1] Use a password generator. [2] Use a password manager plug-in to handle password capture and replay.
- Browse privately.
While private browsing does not make you entirely anonymous on the internet, it does help protect you online, especially if you are not using your private device. Private browsing deletes cookies, temporary internet files, and browsing history after you close the window. The best way to stay anonymous online is to hide your IP address using a web proxy, a VPN, or Tor, an open network that routes your traffic through a series of servers before sending it to your destination. But remember: it is never a good idea to use public or shared computers to login to sensitive sites like banking and social media. - Watch out for phishing scams.
Phishing scams are getting extremely advanced—97% of people around the world cannot identify a sophisticated phishing message. There are some key things to watch out for, however, including analyzing the salutation, being wary of attachments, and identifying embedded URLs. - Monitor your credit reports and financial activity.
Manage the damage. Review your bank and credit card statements daily for suspicious transactions. Also, scan your credit reports for abnormal activity, such as accounts or credit cards that you did not open along with any unexpected credit checks. - Don’t give up your data easily.
Start being in charge of your personal data and share it wisely. Be aware of how companies use your data. - Install the latest antivirus software.
To protect your computer from viruses, spyware, trojans, and other malicious programs, install the latest antivirus software on your device. There are plenty of free as well as paid versions available from trusted companies. AVG, and Ad-Aware’s free anti-virus programs scored the highest in their malware cleanup and malware blocking tests. Web root, Norton, and Kaspersky’s anti-virus products are all good paid options.
Sources: [1] https://blog.returnpath.com/top-10-tips-to-protect-your-personally-identifiable-information-pii-for-data-privacy-day/ [2] https://blog.returnpath.com/13-email-fraud-stats-every-security-professional-should-know/ [3] https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere [4] https://www.truenorthnetworks.com/blog/what-you-can-do-to-protect-your-personally-identifiable-information-pii-at-home
