What You Need to Know:
Scam artists exploiting tax season have devised a range of new online cons: fake tax documents that contain malicious surprises; mass distribution of keyloggers aimed at snatching the identity of PC-based tax filers; and e-mail messages containing links to Web sites that promise new tax code information but instead push malware onto your PC.
What You Need to Do:
- Make sure your computer is updated and scanned regularly (as scheduled or done manually) with the INVISUS security suite.
- Ensure that your Windows desktop protection is current by going to Windows Update. Confirm that you have an updated antivirus software program running on your PC.
- Don’t click links or call telephone numbers included in suspect messages. Instead, contact the bank or the IRS directly by using phone numbers or addresses listed in published directories.
- Don’t open e-mail attachments. In particular, e-mail attachments with ".scr," ".com" and ".exe" file extensions are likely malicious.
- If you receive a dubious e-mail message that claims to have been sent by the IRS, report it to the tax agency at phishing@irs.gov. To check the legitimacy of any e-mail communication or phone call from a person who claims to be an IRS agent, call the IRS (1-800-829-1040).
Other Important Information:
This year, identity thieves are not just trying to gain access to your bank account or to open lines of credit in your name. Scammers are on the prowl for ordinary citizens’ identities that they can use in filing phony tax returns and fraudulently claiming refunds, as well as to swipe rebates associated with the 2008 federal economic stimulus package.
Several states are warning that con artists are using the highly publicized rebate checks associated with the 2008 federal economic stimulus package as a ploy to get you to divulge personal financial information.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says that some state residents have received bogus e-mail messages that purport to be from a government agency such as the IRS or Social Security Administration. The messages request personal information that supposedly would expedite the turnaround time of either a tax refund or a stimulus rebate check.
For the record, the federal government expects to issue economic stimulus rebate checks sometime in May or June. IRS refund checks typically arrive within three weeks of the date when you file your return electronically.
Another tax scam involves e-mail messages that target accountants, businesses and individuals, notifying them of supposed changes in tax laws. These phishing messages direct the recipient to download "updated" tax documents that reflect the new tax laws.
The IRS reports having received numerous complaints from people who have downloaded bogus documents to their computer — only to discover that the documents contained malicious code designed to transfer control over the PC to a third party.
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