5 Practical Tips for Preventing a Tax Scam

The 2019 tax season is here, and with it comes an increase in identity theft resulting from tax scams. Use the tips below to avoid becoming a tax scam victim.

1. Don’t reply to any emails regarding your federal or state tax returns or bills.
2. Don’t open any email attachments or links, as they may contain a malicious code or virus that will infect your computer.
3. Don’t respond to any demands for payment or financial information, even if the communication appears to be from your federal or state tax authority.
4. If you receive incoming emails, texts, calls or social media messages claiming to be from the IRS or state tax authority, contact them directly to verify the request before taking any other action.
5. If you encounter a tax scam email, forward it to phishing@irs.gov and then delete the email.

Below are obvious tax scam red flags to be aware of, as the IRS and state tax authorities would never do the following:

• Request for taxes to be paid by a prepaid/reloadable debit card, gift card, or through a money wire service (i.e. like Western Union or MoneyGram).
• Call to discuss/demand payment on owed federal or state taxes, without first mailing you an official bill.
• Email about a tax discrepancy or bill with a threat to audit if the payment is not made right away.

For more information on tax scams visit: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts.

Source: Allied Solutions