With the proliferation of the online
filing of tax returns and claiming of refunds, internet fraud has penetrated
the income tax process, and a variety of frauds are operational, both in the
case of businesses and individuals. Fraud reporting is the key, not only to
solve cases and restore funds, but also a significant gesture in spreading the
word, in alerting people of scammers and their methods.
Fraud
Reporting of SSN theft
One of the most frequently used ways
by internet scammers to manipulate your tax returns, is that of thieving your
Social Security Number which is the key identification factor used by the IRS
to process income tax returns and e-filing. Fraud reporting must be carried out
when:
● Your e-tax return gets automatically rejected
from the IRS, when it is found that someone else has already filed income tax
returns on your behalf
● You suspect an identity theft has occurred that
could involve a theft of SSN or TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number), fraud
reporting can be initiated with the IRS. The IRS, after satisfying the
correctness of identity of the victim, will stop from suspicious returns being
filed
●
It is possible that the whole of the above
mentioned cycle can be falsely staged by scammers, by sending a warning message
by posing as IRS and try to extract details. If any such mail hits the inbox,
fraud reporting can be done by forwarding the suspicious mail to IRS.
●
It is also possible to initiate fraud reporting
by calling tax fraud 24 x 7 hotline, which is functional in many countries like
Ohio, Australia, Canada and Ireland.
Fraud
Reporting of Fake Free Tax filing Websites
Come tax season, especially the
deadline for filing returns, and the internet is abuzz with websites that offer
free filing of tax returns. Many of these websites are dubious and eat into
private financial information of businesses and individuals. Some reflections
in this regard, with reference to internet scam protection will involve:
●
It is essential to conduct a fair due diligence
before opting to subscribe to filing services
● Fraud websites are to be reported to registrar
of websites, the cyber police and other law enforcers
●
Even if some of these websites are genuine, it
may so happen that they are not fool-proof and are vulnerable to hacking.
Unencrypted data are prone to scam attacks
●
Upon suspicions of an identity theft or loss of
data, credit reports are to attaches to financial credit reports, so that
further financial damages are curtailed.
Proactive
measures to stay safe from tax scams
Maintaining strict confidentiality
of tax related credentials and remaining vigilant with regards to mails and
messages from tax department, will go a long way into preventing scams. It has
to be understood that criminals operate with sophisticated techniques, and have
even allegedly hacked into the IRS database in the past. In a mark of
enhancement of tax security and preparation to make fraud reporting of tax
related scams familiar, the tax identity theft awareness week was observed by
the Federal Trade Commission , from January 30th to February 3rd,
2017.
