Protecting Your Identity
The need to protect your identity online has become increasingly important with the growing number of social networking and blogging sites available. Personality profiles and blogging about personal experiences creates a public record of your personal information.
Please protect your passwords. Use firewalls to protect your computers. There is a well known email scam from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) either claiming they need your help to get money from long lost chiefs of funds, or to confirm a power of attorney for you. Delete these emails. Do not bother to open them. Stay abreast of security breaches to minimize your risk of becoming a victim.
Identity theft is unfortunate, but does happen. There are several trust worthy web sites that have valuable information. If you should find yourself in this situation, please feel free to contact our office for guidance and also to research these sites:
https://www.identitytheft.gov/
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity-theft
Beware of Scam Artists Posing as IRS Agents
Our office has received numerous calls from clients wondering why the IRS is calling them about money they owe, or a federal lawsuit. First, the Internal Revenue Service will not call you to tell you there is a problem with your taxes or that you owe them money. The initial contact from the Internal Revenue Service is via US Postal service mail. Second, there is no federal lawsuit that the Internal Revenue Service would initiate without proper solid physical paperwork that would have been sent to you or your attorney.
Please do not confirm your social security number, bank account or date of birth with any one over the phone.
Here is the directive published by the IRS:
“Callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. If you don’t answer, they often leave an “urgent” callback request.
The IRS reminds people that they can know pretty easily when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam. The IRS will never:
• Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:
• If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.
• If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov.
To read the complete IRS alert go to http://www.irs.gov/ and type “scam” in the search box.”
The staff at Mitz & Rozansky is available to discuss any tax related concerns you may have. Give us a call at (414)352-3200.