If Halloween isn't scary enough for you, this October also has a Friday the 13th, which if you haven't looked at a calendar yet, is today. And making things even more frightening, the Internal Revenue Service has some terrifying tax scam news. This week alone, the IRS has issued two warnings about tax-related identity theft schemes. First was the phishing attempt to hook tax pros by using the agency's e-Services as bait. Now there's a fake insurance tax form scam that's being used to access annuity and life insurance accounts. The IRS says this criminal scheme also targets tax professionals and their clients. Fake insurance phishing: There may be variations of the insurance scam, says the IRS, but details below show how one scam version works.
As for the email itself, the IRS says the subject line varies, but it may be "urgent information" or a similar request. Here's an example of the awkwardly worded text in the body of the email: Dear Life Insurance Policy Owner, Kindly fill the form attached for your Life insurance or Annuity contract details and fax back to us for processing in order to avoid multiple (sic) tax bill (sic). The cybercriminal, using data from the completed form, impersonates the client and contacts the individual's insurance company. The crook then attempts to obtain a loan or make a withdrawal from those accounts 13 scary tax scams: With this recent rash of identity theft scams, it seems only fitting on this Friday the 13th to review some of criminal efforts that have recently made the rounds. Of course, it numbers 13.
Fighting off bad tax spirits (and scams): If you get any of these scam or phishing contacts — or new versions that no doubt will soon pop up — the IRS (and I) remind you of three things not to do:
And here are three things to do if you're ever targeted by a tax identity thief con artist:
Finally, be skeptical and trust your gut. If something seems off, step back and investigate. Call the IRS yourself and find out if the message or call you got is correct or a criminal trying to take your info to file a fake return to collect a fraudulent refund. Remember, tax scams don't die. Like Halloween (and TV and movie) zombies, they just keep coming back in new forms in search of more identity theft victims. Remember, too, that tax crooks goblins and ID theft ghouls are out there year-round, not just in Halloween's host month of October. // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;gt; // ]]&gt; // ]]> // ]]> from http://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2017/10/friday-the-13th-alert-dont-fall-for-these-13-tax-scams-id-theft-schemes.html
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