The Internal Revenue Service continually reminds taxpayers to use caution during tax season to protect themselves against Tax Fraud and financial schemes ranging from identity theft to preparer return fraud.

The Dirty Dozen is a list compiled by the Internal Revenue Service that outlines the top tax fraud Scams of the year. They release the top scams to alert taxpayers of schemes that may take on various forms in order to steal money from returns, credit card information and identities.

Tax Fraud Schemes

Understanding tax fraud schemes can help consumers avoid being deceived by criminals. Tax fraud can happen via identity theft when someone steals personal information, (i.e. name, social security number, etc.) without prior permission, and commits fraud or other crimes with the personal data. In some cases, tax fraud and identity theft can occur after a taxpayer’s identity is stolen to illegally file a tax return in order to claim the refund.

If you are concerned that you are the victim of tax fraud, the IRS has established a section on the IRS.gov website to help victims of identity theft issues with information about how to contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit. In addition, there are tips on how taxpayers can protect themselves against identity theft.

Phone scams

Recently, phone scams have been on the rise, stealing thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims. There have been police reports of phone scams aiming to steal money and identities from consumers. Police and the IRS are continuing to warn consumers about various phone scams.

Nationally, these criminals are calling to tell potential victims that they have unpaid traffic tickets, outstanding bills, missed jury duty or they have bad debts owed to the IRS. This type of tax fraud is another way to obtain personal information from an unknowing victim.

Other phone scams include lottery winning scams, where the callers claim they need a person’s banking information to deposit lottery winnings. Even some callers pretend to be a credit card company offering a new credit card with lower interest rates, but don’t believe it. They could be intentionally trying to discover your personal information and retrieve credit card numbers.

According to the IRS, Dirty Dozen scams may include the following circumstances:

1. Scammers may utilize fake names and IRS badge numbers.
2. These scams may already know the last four digits of your Social Security Number.
3. Callers intending to scam may be able to mimic the IRS toll-free number on a caller ID so the victim thinks it is the IRS calling.
4. Fake emails, appearing to come from the IRS may be sent to support the fake phone call.
5. Victims may also hear other people in the background to appear as a busy call center.

Any taxpayer who thinks they are at risk of identity or tax fraud due to a lost or stolen wallet, tax files or other personal information, should immediately contact the IRS and report the issue. Taxpayers can call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490.

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