IRS dirty dozen tax scams for 2013

     In my last blog I covered a press release the IRS had put out at the end of last week, dealing with what they called the largest scam of this kind. It informed us they had received over 20,000 calls from people complaining they were receiving calls from individuals claiming to be  with the IRS and they owed back taxes that  needed to be payed immediately to the IRS via prepaid debit cards or money order or face substantial punishment. This blog will deal with a couple of the dirty dozen scams for 2013 that I have not talked about before.

                             Phishing

     A phishing scam usually contacts you via an unsolicited email or a fake website that poses as a legitimate site.  It will try to entice you to provide valuable personal and financial information. If you provide them  this  information you will be

opening the door to identity theft and financial fraud. Keep in mind the IRS  does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes text messages and social media.


     If you receive an unsolicited email that appears to be from the IRS or an agency closely linked to the IRS such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System( EFTPS) you can report it by sending it to
                   phishing@IRS.gov. 

                  Return  Preparer fraud 

     When hiring an individual or firm to prepare your return you should choose carefully. The IRS wants to remind all taxpayers that they should use only preparers who sign the return they prepare and enter their IRS tax identification number. Most 

return preparers provide honest service to the clients but there are some unscrupulous preparers who prey on unsuspecting taxpayers and results can be refund fraud or identity theft.

       Remember taxpayers are legally responsible for what's on their tax return even when prepared by someone else.Therefore make sure that the preparer you hire is up to the task.

     The IRS has created a new webpage to assist taxpayers  in choosing a preparer, red flags to look out for and details on preparers qualifications and information on how to file a complaint by  visiting the website below.
                  http://www.irs.gov/


                                              New Scam update


     I want to share with you a couple of new scams that I received this week via  email.

The first one is from the Powerball Lottery Board

            Subject line says " winners list"  

     The email or website  says  please check the attached file for details. It doesn't have my name on it as the recipient, that is a red flag to proceed with caution.If I were to open up the attachment I will have compromised my personal information.

   The second one is addressed to dear account user

 we noticed your email account has been opened in one other location with the network IP address  of 93.210.13.68 with instructions to click here

     The next sentence  says please log out your email account within the next 24 hours or your account will be locked by our webmail administrator which you will not be able to send or receive emails.
Finally my failure to carry out the above as soon as possible could result in new incoming emails being blocked
Signed regards

webmail support
Then it leaves this do not reply message

*Please do not reply to this message. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

     As you can see there are errors in grammar which is a big clue that this is a bogus email. Even without the grammatical errors common sense would dictate that you would want to delete this email and not respond or open it and put your personal information in jeopardy.

     If anyone has been a victim of identity theft and would like to discuss it or would like to talk about a scam that I have not discussed please send me the information at  rbentleygiant@gmail.com. Also any comments you may have, good or bad I welcome. 

                  Richard Bentley
                 richardbentley.us
                                    http://seniorscamspodcast.com/


  
                   

Dirty dozen tax scams for 2013

     Largest ever U. S. Tax – fraud  phone scam                                targets thousands:

    If you get a call and the caller says he represents the IRS be suspicious.


    In case you haven't seen it in the news, federal authorities are warning the public about a nationwide phone scam that has stolen millions from thousands of unsuspecting people. They are claiming to be an IRS service representative and tell their intended victims they owe taxes and they must pay these taxes immediately via prepaid debit card or wire transfer. They are threatening the people who refuse to pay with  arrest, loss of business, deportation or loss of their driver's license.

     The Treasury Department is calling it the largest scam (of it's kind) that they have ever seen. With more than 20,000 callers complaining of receiving phone calls from the IRS demanding payment of back taxes.

     Technology has made it easy to manipulate the numbers being displayed on your phone. So you can't always trust the numbers displayed.

     The IRS is doing its best  to make the public aware of the scam. They have notified major phone companies as well as  voice - over- the- Internet call services and are providing news bulletins to all major news outlets.  People who receive such calls or other suspicious requests should contact the IRS.

     The best advice we can give you is the same as we have advised in the past do not provide personal information or financial information to anyone over the phone or online unless you are absolutely certain that you know who you are speaking with.



     You can be sure that major banks and financial institutions plus government agencies do not and will not call and ask for this information or payment over the phone via debit card or wire transfers.

     This tax related phone scam as well as phishing emails, preparer fraud and claims a preparer can offer you free money are all part of the dirty dozen tax scams of 2013.  I will discuss the dirty dozen tax scams in more detail in future blogs. The deadline to file your taxes is less than a month away so please take the steps to securely file this year. 

         California is the number one target

     This segment is for the readers who are California residents. I received an email today from Peter Brusso who produces marketing podcasts on http://infocard.cc/101_Marketing_Podcasts.html  referencing an article from the Drudge Report, the headlines are "California is the top target in the U.S. for international crime enterprises that operate from safe havens in Eastern Europe, Africa and China." This is according to a report released Thursday.

     When you read this you'll think of trafficking in drugs, guns and humans. But cyber crimes targeting the wealthy and financial institutions has become their fastest-growing targets.

      Los Angeles region is vulnerable to digital piracy due to the fact it produces much of the nation's movies and other mass-market media.

California leads all states in the number of computer systems hacked or infected by malware; victims of Internet crimes and identity theft. The impact is in the hundreds of millions of dollars from small businesses, mom-and-pop operations and individuals who can lose their life's work and savings to the schemes that have originated from the far corners of the world.


     Although this report is based on California being the leading state in the union for these crimes it doesn't mean that the other 49 states should feel that they are immune from these crimes.

                     Richard Bentley
                     richardbentley.us

Identity Theft Still Number One

     Each week in preparation for my blog I spend a fair amount of time doing research and reading on the subject of identity theft and fraud.  I do this to educate myself and in turn make the content of my blog informative, meaningful and timely.  This week in one of the groups that I am in I had a discussion with a person from the nonprofit organization  Identity Theft Resource Center.

     I have found their website to be one of the most comprehensive and informative sites that I have ever visited.

                              Their mission is to:

 * Provide best in class victim assistance at no charge to consumers throughout the United States.
 *Educate  corporations, consumers, government agencies and other organizations on the best practices for fraud and identity theft detection, reduction and mitigation.

     *  Serve as a relevant national resource on consumer issues   related to cyber security, data breaches, social media, fraud, scams and other issues

     Since 2006 the ITRC has recorded more than 43,000 victim cases and consumer calls from it's San Diego call center. 

     I strongly recommend that everyone reading this blog visit this website and you can also sign-up for their e – newsletter. This is a must read tool in your battle against being an identity theft victim and if you do become one, a resource to guide you through it. This is the link to their website

               http://www.idtheftcenter.org/

     One of their more comprehensive reports deals with data breaches of companies and agencies. The  2014 Breach List shows 130 companies and agencies were breached and 2,835,534 records were exposed. If you go to the link below you will get a detailed report on each one of these breaches. I find these numbers mind-boggling. 

                             http://www.idtheftcenter.org/images/breach/ITRC_Breach_Report_2014.pdf

     

     I would  like to give you one last look at the detailed information that the ITRC provides on it's web pages.  What I have shown here is a fraction of the information that is available to all of you and again I recommend  you take advantage of it.

     Data breaches are a significant risk that requires advance preparation. It's not a question of if but when. Enterprises with the most mature security organization and advanced security controls can't prevent every single breach. The link below will provide you with some interesting facts on the costs of data breaches     
                                              

   http://www.idtheftcenter.org/id-theft/incident-response-best-practices.html


                            14 years at the top

     What was the leading consumer complaint in '13 ?

  ID Theft ranked #one in the number of complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission for the 14th year in a row.  For over a decade the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network has received more consumer complaints about ID theft than any other concern. A review of the complaints filed gives insight into the types of identity theft taking place in the US. The link below will take a look at various complaint categories and examples of what each might look like.

             http://www.kroll.com/library/MEM-
084_Investigator_Insight_2013_Complaints.pdf 

Dispute the Unauthorized

              Unapproved charges on your credit card bill?

 

     According to the Federal Trade Commission, telephone scam artists have recently been calling consumers to offer "credit card loss" or "loss protection" coverage as an add-on benefit to a credit card. The FTC's advice: don't buy it!  It is worthless. The fact is: you are never responsible and should never pay for charges you did

not authorize.

Read these Investigator tips to learn the steps to follow if you find unauthorized charges to your credit card.

            http://www.kroll.com/library/MEM-085-               Inv_Tips_credit_card_charges_final.pdf  

      As I have mentioned I am an Independent Associate with LegalShield and we provide identity theft protection through Kroll and Associates. This information and tips have come from Kroll and Associates, to help in the fight against identity theft. 

                              Caller ID scams

  

     I have never heard of this scam. I don't believe I've talked about it in any of my blogs.

      You get a call from an unknown number and the voice claims to be from the local police department. They say they're investigating a crime and they want to verify your information, your name, date of birth and address to rule you out as a suspect. You are not stupid, so you Google the number and you find it is the  local police department. No big deal right? They are actually scammers who fooled your smart phones robust caller ID with a web service, and now they've got all your info.

     This works because people don't really want to mess with the police, the government, or any other intimidating agency.

     Caller IDs are easy to spoof. Other versions of the scam include calls from government agencies, banks and utility companies. If someone calls you asking for personal information upfront hang up immediately. There is not a government agency or corporation on the planet that will ask for your personal information over the phone,you should only provide that type of information if you call the number directly yourself.

      The two links below will take you to podcasts that are related to senior scams and internet marketing tools.

http://seniorscamspodcast.com/index.html

http://infocard.cc/101_Marketing_Podcasts.html

     I wish everyone a productive and safe week. Your comments are welcome.

                    Richard Bentley
                   richardbentley.us

       

I would like to start out this week's blog by giving you some background about myself and why I am doing this blog.

     I am retired and I live in the Coachella Valley.  I became a  full-time resident about a year ago. I was born and raised in Connecticut and I had a 40 year career in electronics distribution, sales, marketing and executive management.  About a year ago I started a home-based business as an Independent Associate for LegalShield.  As part of our product portfolio we have a comprehensive identity theft protection program
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      I started blogging about identity theft because some of my closest friends have been victims of it. As I started doing research I saw just how widespread and destructive it can be. So I started this blog with the hopes that eventually  I will reach enough people and make them aware of the potential to have their identity stolen and give them some advice as to what they can do to protect themselves.  I feel it is important for the readers of my blog to understand my motivation for publishing it. With that said here comes my 11th blog and I hope you will find it informative and useful.

                  AARP recently released a report titled
          Caught In The Scammers Net.

     The report tried to define the profile of a scam victim. The report found there are 15 online behaviors and life situations that dramatically increase your probability of online fraud and one in five American adults engage in at least seven of them.The report finds that it is not just risky online behavior putting you at risk.  But anyone who is going thru a difficult life experience could be vulnerable to identity theft.  Going through a difficult time makes you more vulnerable to fraud, just as a weakened immune system lowers resistance to disease, negative life events lowers resistance to fraud.

     The  AARP commissioned  a survey of  11,000 adults in the United States and surveyed their online  actions, behavior and  the life experiences of both fraud victims and non victims.  They have developed a detailed profile of those who are most vulnerable to Internet-based scams.

In the seven days prior to being surveyed respondents admitted to:

       *clicking on pop-up advertisements: 26% of victims open the pop-up while non-victims opened at the rate of 10%.
       *Opening emails from unknown sources: 27% victims compared to 17% of non victims.
       *Downloading apps: 35% of victims versus 28% of non victims this is another way to install malware, to steal computer files, passwords and accounts.
       * Selling products: 23% of victims versus 7% of non-victims are active on online auction sites. Scammers posing as buyers, paying with counterfeit checks.
       * Purchasing a product through a money payment business: 47% of victims versus 30% of non victims use this service which becomes  particularly risky when you link it to a checking or debit card account. If those systems are hacked or someone  gets your payment transfer information, your bank account is now exposed to the scammer.
       * Signing up for free trial offers: 18% of victims versus 8% of non victims engaged in these traps, which lock buyers into hard to cancel contracts and merchandise may not arrive until after the trial ends.

                           The key negative life experiences include:
     * Feelings of isolation, reported by two of three victims, compared to a minority of non victims.
     * Loss of job: 23% of victims versus 10% of non victims .
     * Negative change in financial status: 44% of victims versus 23% of non victims.

     * Being concerned about debt: 69% of victims versus 57% of non victims.

     The survey asks questions about Internet safety, neither victims nor non victims scored particularly well.There were two questions in a specific areas where victims were significantly less likely to answer correctly.

    * Unaware that banks do not send emails to customers asking them to click on a link to verify personal or account information. Two thirds of the victims compared to just 38% of non victims believe that banks do this as a common ruse used by scammers to download malware or collect details for likely identity theft.

    * Unaware that a privacy policy does not mean that websites will not share information from users.50% of victims, compared to 40% of non victims, answered this correctly.  However such information may be sold to either legitimate vendors or scammers posing as such and used to compile "sucker lists" to identify possible future victims

                                        About the research

     The report was commissioned by the AARP Fraud Watch Network as part of a national campaign to connect people with experts and law enforcement who could help them spot and avoid scams. Available free of charge to AARP members, non members and people of any age, the Fraud Watch Network provides:

     * Watchdog alert emails that deliver breaking scam information,

     * Prevention tips based on the latest information from experts,

     * an interactive map with the latest law enforcement warnings from each state,

     *a phone number people can call to talk to volunteers trained to help fraud victims, and access to a network of people who are sharing their experiences with scams so they can  help others protect themselves.

     The AARP is one of the most prestigious organizations in the United States, the fact that they taken the time and gone to much expense  to do such an in-depth survey, shows how significant they believe that identity theft and fraud has become.  They have made this available to members and nonmembers of any age.  I  therefore think it would be a very big mistake not to take advantage of the service they are offering  you. 

     As I have mentioned before we have a website that is devoted to helping our seniors be more aware of the various identity theft scams and frauds that are being perpetrated against our senior citizens and we have a series of podcasts that deal with senior citizen identity theft. 

                         seniorscamspodcast.com

     Also for anyone who is interested in developing a website or having a website reviewed. Also how to use social media correctly for business or learn how to use SEO's to drive people to your websites. You should visit the website listed below and I think you'll find it most informative and educational.  

                                         

         http://infocard.cc/101_Marketing_Podcasts.html

     In closing as I mentioned in the beginning of the blog it is important to me that these blogs that I have produced are meaningful , informative and helpful to those who read it. That is why I solicit your feedback in order to help me produce a high quality blog.

                                          Thank you

                                          Richard Bentley

                                          richardbentley.us

     

The US government is reporting that identity theft has costs the American public over $1.5 billion in 2013

This staggering number points out the need for all of us to take whatever precautions are necessary to prevent this from happening to you. As I've said in the past do not give any personal information such as social security number, bank account numbers or credit card numbers to anyone over the phone or online less you are absolutely sure that they are legitimate and you are familiar with them. I know this doesn't protect you when the thieves hack into corporations such as Target and Neiman Marcus but it is prudent to follow this advice.
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    Small – amount scams can cost you plenty                                                             

When you are reviewing your monthly credit card statement I am sure you scan down the column looking for large amounts to make sure they are legitimate.  If you see a  relatively small amount say under $20 you may not pay any attention to it as it is to small an amount to take the time to call your credit card company.

Recently the Better Business Bureau released a notice that the credit card numbers that were stolen over the holidays have had  a fraudulent charge of $9.94 on millions of credit cards.


Some are calling this a new scam but in reality it's not. The small amount scam has been around for years.  In the beginning scammers would charge a small amount to an online site and cancel the order when it was verified that the card was good.

Because of the enormous amount of credit card accounts that were hacked over the holidays, it has been  extremely lucrative  for the scammers (3 million credit card charges that were  three dollars each equals $9 million) and  because of the small dollar amount it makes it more likely the charges will go unnoticed for a longer period of time.


I know it takes time to call the bank on these  small unfamiliar charges but do it  because as I mentioned above if they get away with the small charges it is just a matter time before they hit you with a major charge.

Better Business Bureau advice 
you should heed 

<I f you find bogus charges on your card cancel it immediately.

> If you lose your card you should report it immediately.  By doing this you won't have to pay the >   $50  fee if your card gets used by the thief

> Do not leave your cards or statement out in plain sight

 >After reading the statement shred it or store it in a secure location

>As I've mentioned many times before when ordering over the phone or online know who's on the other end before you give your card number

> If you pick up your mail on the way out to go shopping and you leave your mail in the car do not leave it in plain sight put in the glove box or covered up
.

> Also review your landline phone bill each month.  There's is a scam where people are getting charged for three way calls they didn't make.  Call your provider if you find you have been billed for this service

I believe the take away from all of this is you should take the time to sit down and review every bill you receive. Make sure that all the charges are legitimate and accurate  to protect yourself from identity theft but also from legitimate human error, it will be time well spent


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     Everyone Needs a Will…Even You

I know this is a subject that people generally don't like to discuss. But it is very important for everyone to provide their loved ones with a will  at their most stressful time.   The link below will give you some very valuable information on the structure of your will.  

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/02/27/everyone-needs-willeven-its-time-to-get-started

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I've mentioned in the past that Peter Brusso and I have developed a website dedicated to bringing awareness to the senior citizens of the potential for identity theft and scams that they may encounter. I live in the Coachella Valley and because  of the demographics it is Ground Zero for these senior oriented scams. We have posted  new podcasts on our website and I invite all of you  to check them out.

http://seniorscamspodcast.com/

                                                          

Also Peter is an engineer and has many years of experience in marketing and web development. He has a marketing site that anyone who is interested in  Internet marketing,or how to use social media to develop your business should take the time to review the site.
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http://infocard.cc/101_Marketing_Podcasts.html



And in closing I once again ask for your comments be they positive or negative,   My mission for this blog is to try and alert people of the threats to their identity and provide common sense tips on how to protect yourself.

                                 richardbentley.us/