Many of us delight in tricking friends on April Fools’ Day, but scammers take pleasure in tricking people all year long. Their tricks, however, have far greater consequences than being told there are doughnuts in the breakroom, only to find an empty box. This newsletter generally highlights current scams, but I want to alert you two full-fledged crimes happening in Metro Denver.
The Denver Police Department warns that catalytic converter thieves often have a lookout. If you come across any crime in progress call 911and be mindful of your surroundings to keep yourself safe.  Watch a Denver Channel story about the growing theft of catalytic converters here.
Beth
BEER FOR LIFE? – WOULD YOU CLICK?
We thought you might enjoy a Newsweek story about one company that took April Fool’s Day too far. Would you have opened the text if you had received it? Can you spot all the warnings that consumers who opened the email missed? Click here and see. 
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Google the words “why is it so hard to cancel subscriptions" and you will find hundreds of posts from frustrated customers unable to cancel a subscription. While these may not be scams, the FTC considers them deceptive. A SCAMSPOTTER reader wrote to tell us of an experience trying to deactivate a recurring yearly subscription. After receiving an email that the subscription was about to renew, our reader went online and deleted her credit card information thinking that would delete the renewal. Unfortunately, she was billed anyway and when she called the company to cancel, she was told it was too late; it had already ‘auto renewed’. Make sure you know how to cancel a service before you sign up. Our reader also noted that when she called the company, she was asked to verify herself by providing the first 6 and the last 4 digits of her credit card. After refusing three times, the agent allowed our scam spotter to provide her email address instead. 
IRS Phone Scams
April isn't just a month for pranks—it's the month that many of us file our tax returns. The IRS reports that, during tax filing season, the agency generally sees a surge of scams in which fraudsters impersonate IRS agents and threaten people with arrests, deportation and more in attempts to bilk them out of their money. Learn more about how to protect yourself here.
Tax Season Phishing
In phishing scams, con artists impersonate legitimate entities through emails that appear to be from a legitimate account to trick people into revealing sensitive information, such as bank account passwords, or providing money. During tax filing season, phishing scams are often tax-related. Avoid opening unexpected email messages that looks like it came from the IRS.  
Don’t be fooled by emails about big refunds, tax bills or requesting personal information. That is not how the IRS communicates with taxpayers. Learn more at the IRS's Report Phishing and Online Scams page.
Tax-Related Identity Theft
When scammers succeed in learning a taxpayers' Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, they may use that information to file a tax return and claim a refund. That's a form of identity theft. To learn more about protecting yourself from identity theft, check out this IRS publication.
Tax Return Preparer Fraud
Sometimes tax preparers are targeted by scammers, and sometimes they are the scammers. Return preparer fraud occurs when con artists claiming to be tax preparers use the information provided by their victims to commit identity theft and steal tax refunds. Choose your tax return preparer wisely. See the IRS's tips for choosing a tax preparer here.
Do you suspect you've been scammed or exploited? Report it to us by calling our Fraud Hotline.

Contact
The Denver DA's
FRAUD HOTLINE
720.913.9179

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM FRAUD AND SCAMS


We offer FREE virtual presentations on how to protect yourself from fraud and scams. Call to schedule "Stand Up Against Fraud" to learn about scams happening in our area.
Contact:
Maro Casparian| amc@denverda.org|
720-913-9036