There are “paid” services that claim they will monitor your financial accounts and promise you will not suffer from identity theft; and help you when the worst happens. Are they doing anything over and above what you can do or will be expected to do, under their direction, yourself. Is the offer legitimate? Some protection is automatically provided through your bank, credit card companies, insurance companies, etc. Verify what protection you already have. Nobody can guarantee you won’t experience identity theft. Those services offer identity monitoring and repair — things you can do yourself, for free.
Concern about identity theft has spawned many companies that watch information sources — most notably, your credit report — for signs that an identity thief may be using your personal information to get loans, open credit card accounts, or otherwise cause financial havoc. You can pay them to alert you to possible trouble, or simply keep watch yourself.
What if you find an identity thief has struck? You can get free recovery help at IdentityTheft.gov.
You can report identity theft to the FTC and get a personal recovery plan that:
• walks you through each recovery step
• tracks your progress and adapts to your changing situation
• pre-fills letters and forms for you to send to credit bureaus, businesses, debt collectors, and the IRS
Telephone Scams
The IRS will never call to demand immediate payment, nor will the IRS call about taxes you owe without first mailing you a bill. If you get a live or pre-recorded call claiming to be from the IRS and demanding payment right away, hang up. If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, you can call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040 to explore your options.
Don’t trust your caller ID. Scammers can make caller ID look like anyone is calling: the IRS, a business or government office. If they tell you to pay money for any reason, or ask for your financial account numbers, hang up. If you think the caller might be legitimate, call back to a number you know is genuine – not the number the caller gave you.
Any phone call that starts by asking a question that will prompt a “Yes” for response – hang up and do not hold a conversation with the caller. The call will be recorded and then your voice will be spliced into a conversation “agreeing” to purchase some product or service.
Don’t trust your caller ID. Scammers can make caller ID look like anyone is calling: the IRS, a business or government office. If they tell you to pay money for any reason, or ask for your financial account numbers, hang up. If you think the caller might be legitimate, call back to a number you know is genuine – not the number the caller gave you.
Any phone call that starts by asking a question that will prompt a “Yes” for response – hang up and do not hold a conversation with the caller. The call will be recorded and then your voice will be spliced into a conversation “agreeing” to purchase some product or service.
Income Tax Scam
The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. In addition, IRS does not threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement action.
An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.
Victims are told they owe money to the IRS. Fake debt collectors will attempt to pressure you into paying taxes owed through a non-traceable source, such as a money order.
The IRS saw an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents in the 2016 tax season.
Taxpayers are receiving emails that appear to be from TAP about a tax refund. These emails are a phishing scam, where unsolicited emails which seem to come from legitimate organizations — but are really from scammers — try to trick unsuspecting victims into providing personal and financial information. Do not respond or click the links in them
Be assured that the tax professional that you use is actually a tax professional. Some unscrupulous people will open shop during tax season for the sole purpose of stealing identities. Be leery of the promised big refunds. Review your returns closely to make sure the deductions and income claimed are true and reported accurately.
Using your name, someone else files your tax return, using your social security number, claiming extra dependants or deduction, with your personal information but a different address. There is a refund, but it does not come to you. You file your tax return and the IRS notifies you it is a duplicate return.
If you get an email from the IRS, forward it to: phishing@irs.gov. If by letter, contact: Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
If working with an accountant, you should query them on what measures they take to protect your information.
An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.
Victims are told they owe money to the IRS. Fake debt collectors will attempt to pressure you into paying taxes owed through a non-traceable source, such as a money order.
The IRS saw an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents in the 2016 tax season.
Taxpayers are receiving emails that appear to be from TAP about a tax refund. These emails are a phishing scam, where unsolicited emails which seem to come from legitimate organizations — but are really from scammers — try to trick unsuspecting victims into providing personal and financial information. Do not respond or click the links in them
Be assured that the tax professional that you use is actually a tax professional. Some unscrupulous people will open shop during tax season for the sole purpose of stealing identities. Be leery of the promised big refunds. Review your returns closely to make sure the deductions and income claimed are true and reported accurately.
Using your name, someone else files your tax return, using your social security number, claiming extra dependants or deduction, with your personal information but a different address. There is a refund, but it does not come to you. You file your tax return and the IRS notifies you it is a duplicate return.
If you get an email from the IRS, forward it to: phishing@irs.gov. If by letter, contact: Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
If working with an accountant, you should query them on what measures they take to protect your information.
Health Care and Personal Hygiene Products
Scammers create fake websites, use fake endorsements from public figures and of course, lie about the effectiveness of their products. The sites appear to be “news releases or broadcast” and use public figures such as Stephen Hawking and Anderson Cooper. The spoof sites are sales pages.
Research products and talk to your doctor before you purchase anything that appears as a “wonder” drug or product.
Ineffective wonder drugs and medications such as “brain pill”, CogniPrin and FlexiPrin were offered risk-free with a trial period and guarantees based on unsubstantiated health claims.
Ads displaying a “doctors seal” may not be legitimate - did the doctor really review the product, or is the doctor a real doctor?
Debt Collector and Mortgage Scam Calls
This scam involves phony debt collectors posing as attorneys, debt collection agencies, or law enforcement officers demanding immediate payment on delinquent loans or on loans consumers received but for amounts they do not owe. Often times, consumers are threatened with lawsuits or arrests, if payments are not made.
An India based telephone call center over a period of six months posed as debt collectors for government agencies, credit card companies and businesses. They sent “mules” or “runners” to collect the money, immediately. $1.5M dollars were scammed from 3,000 people before they were caught.
During 2015-16, the FTC and 70 law enforcement and regulatory partners brought more than 165 actions against illegal debt collectors. The FTC went after 20 unlawful debt collection enterprises. We added 44 collectors to the banned debt collectors list in 2016 alone, and won three important summary judgements.
Mortgage scammers falsely claimed they can lower consumers’ mortgage payments and interest rates or prevent foreclosure.
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