With arrival of a new year, scammers are ready to steal our money. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has designated January 29 to February 2, 2018 as Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week.
A clever scammer who steals an owner's social security number will likely use the information for unauthorized purposes --including stealing any tax refund due a taxpayer.
A call from a scammer purporting to be from the IRS is a fake event. The fake caller may state the person called owes tax money and will be thrown in jail if payment is not made immediately. That is wrong. A taxpayer will not be sent to jail for an innocent mistake or failure to pay taxes on time.
IRS personnel will not contact a taxpayer by E-mail or telephone for any alleged due taxes. Any legitimate communication from the IRS will be in writing. Alternatively, the fake caller may purport to be able to expedite any tax refund due if a taxpayer will send money ("commission") in advance for that service. The IRS warns against sending money for this bogus service.
Scammers purporting to be from the IRS or the U.S. Treasury Department may demand payments by iTunes Gift Cards, Green Dot prepaid Cards, MoneyPak Cards, Reloadit Prepaid Debit Cards, or other prepaid credit cards, Western Union or Moneygram. These requests are fraudulent. The IRS will not make such demand. If anyone insists you pay in one of these ways, the FTC wants you to report it via
www.ftc.gov or FAX (877) 479-9135.
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