Tax Scams & How to Protect Yourself

 

Tax scams are becoming both more frequent and more sophisticated. As a taxpayer, it is critical that you are aware of some of these scams and how you can protect yourself.

 

REMEMBER: The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages, or social media channels to request personal or financial information. In addition, the IRS doesn't threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement actions.

 

Common tax scams include the following:

 

1-Fake IRS Impersonation Telephone Scams

 

2-Fake Email

 

3-Phishing

 

4-Malware Schemes

 

5-Fake Text Messages

 

6-Fake Social Media

 

7-Fake Robo-Calls

 

8-Fake Snail Mail

 

How you can protect yourself:

 

1-IMMEDIATELY hang up on anyone calling claiming to be from the IRS.

 

2-NEVER open any emails claiming to be from the IRS or tax related.

 

3-NEVER respond to text messages claiming to be from the IRS or tax related.

 

4-IGNORE social media information if you are contacted regarding your tax information.

 

5-NEVER give out personal or financial information to anyone you do not know and cannot verify.

 

REMEMBER: If in doubt, ALWAYS contact the IRS directly at 800-829-1040. The IRS will only contact you by mail and even then you should call the IRS to verify the notice is legitimate and not a scam.

 

 

This article was written by Donald M. Scherzi, CPA, CFP, LLC

Mike Lupo, SCORE Counselor

Visit us at: www.scoresouthflorida.net