Summertime Is The Season For A New Crop Of Scams
Summertime is a time for fun and relaxation, but beware.
I’ve written in this month’s blog about document safety tips for those of us who live in hurricane territory. (You can read it by clicking here: It's Hurricane Season. Be Prepared). There are plenty of precautions you can take when preparing for Mother Nature. First of all, you can leave the area if a hurricane is on its way. Other disasters like earthquakes and tornadoes are trickier to avoid. But, when it comes to scams you have no warning. The way scammers work is by trying to catch people who are vulnerable and off-guard. So they get pretty creative and very busy during the summer when everyone tends to be a little more relaxed.
New IRS Warning
The IRS has recently published a warning to advise taxpayers of two new variations on tax-related scams. They say that one involves Social Security numbers, while a second scam threatens people with a tax bill from a non-existent government agency. The IRS reminds everyone to stay alert to scams that use the IRS or reference taxes, especially in late spring and early summer as tax bills and refunds arrive. That means now!
Here are some details:
The SSN hustle. The latest twist includes scammers claiming to be able to suspend or cancel the victim’s Social Security number. In this variation, the Social Security cancellation threat scam is similar to and often associated with the IRS impersonation scam. It is yet another attempt by con artists to frighten people into returning ‘robocall’ voicemails. Scammers may mention overdue taxes in addition to threatening to cancel the person’s SSN.
Fake tax agency. This scheme involves the mailing of a letter threatening an IRS lien or levy. The lien or levy is based on bogus delinquent taxes owed to a non-existent agency, “Bureau of Tax Enforcement.” There is no such agency. The lien notification scam also likely references the IRS to confuse potential victims into thinking the letter is from a legitimate organization.
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