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
No comments:
Post a Comment