shaw capital management:Be alert for scams at tax time

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110306/COLUMNISTS15/103060345/1003/business/Be-alert-scams-tax-time
by: Eileen Smith
This time of year, con artists go phishing, sending out fake e-mails in an attempt to reel in financial information from consumers.
The bait: your income tax return.
In fact, identity thefts related to taxes and payroll tripled from 2005 to 2009, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
That might be because people tend to pay attention when they receive a notice from the Internal Revenue Service.
But the truth is, the IRS does not initiate communications with taxpayers via e-mail. No exceptions. So, if you receive e-mail from someone claiming to be from the IRS you can assume it is fraudulent.
Don’t open it. And if you do open the e-mail, do not reply to it or click on any links it might contain.
If you receive an e-mail, phone call, fax or letter by snail mail from someone claiming to be an IRS employee, you can readily confirm if Uncle Sam is reaching out. Just call IRS at (800) 829-1040 and ask if the IRS needs to contact you.
Sometimes, it is easy to spot a fake. The message starts with “hi there” or another generic greeting rather than your name. The grammar ain’t good. And the graphics look like something your cat came up with after eating a box of crayons.
But some of these creeps are scarily slick, with official-sounding verbiage and professional presentation. It is better to err on the side of skepticism than to be sucked in to a scam.
Crooks keep coming up with new ways to rip off trusting people. This year, con artists have obtained financial information by offering free tax-filing services. The taxpayers received paperwork indicating a hefty refund — but the money was diverted to the bogus tax preparers, who were based in Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe whose primary natural resource is peat.
In another new wrinkle from Lowlife Land, scammers are contacting military families with a phony offer of a special tax benefits for people in the service that they can obtain by paying a fee. In truth, Uncle Sam doesn’t charge people to refund their money.
Other unwitting taxpayers were tricked into giving out their credit card numbers. The ruse? A shyster posing as the IRS sent out an e-mail — complete with realistic-looking government logo — offering to apply tax refunds directly to unpaid credit card bills.
Remember, the government doesn’t ask for detailed financial information, such as PIN numbers, passwords or answers to security questions for credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
The hassle quotient increases if someone steals your Social Security number and uses it to get a job. The IRS will likely assume you are earning more money than you actually are.
If you believe you might have been duped, go to www.IRS.gov and enter the search term “identity theft” for information on getting help.
It’s important to report incidents of fraud to keep other taxpayers from falling prey to con artists.
Eileen Smith offers commonsense insights on personal finance and career enrichment in her Sunday column. Reach her at (856) 486-2444