Tax season is prime time for scammers and cyber criminals. Beyond identity theft, which is seemingly quite commonplace, tax scams have the dubious distinction of rising to the top of the Better Business Bureau’s list of scams in 2016.
According to the Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker, the top ten list includes:
WASHINGTON – With the 2017 tax season underway, the IRS reminds seniors to remain alert to aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents. The callers claim to be IRS employees, but are not. 
These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. read more…
Reposted from the IRS newswire, April 4, 2017
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Extracted in part from https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/irs-alerts-taxpayers-with-limited-english-proficiency-of-ongoing-phone-scams-urges-caution-before-paying-unexpected-tax-bills
How private debt collection works
The IRS reminds people to be on the lookout for scam artists trying to dupe taxpayers as the private debt collection program begins.
Starting this month, a new program will transfer some long-standing tax bills over to private firms. The only outside agencies authorized to contact taxpayers about their unpaid tax accounts will be one of four firms authorized under the new private debt collection program. Even then, any affected taxpayer will be notified first by the IRS, not the private collection firm. read more…
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service issued a warning that tax-related scams continue across the nation even thou
gh the tax filing season has ended for most taxpayers. People should remain on alert to new and emerging schemes involving the tax system that continue to claim victims. 
“We continue to urge people to watch out for new and evolving schemes this summer,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Many of these are variations of a theme, involving fictitious tax bills and demands to pay by purchasing and transferring information involving a gift card or iTunes card. Taxpayers can avoid these and other tricky financial scams by taking a few minutes to review the tell-tale signs of these schemes.”
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Even though reports of tax-related identity theft have declined markedly in recent years, the Internal Revenue Service warns that this practice is still widespread and remains serious enough to earn a spot on the agency’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams.
Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses a stolen Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to file a fraudulent tax return claiming a refund. read more…
Identity thieves cannot steal what they cannot find. While you may never be able to “hide” or protect all of your personal, financial information from getting out there, there are a number of simple ways to limit the exposure of your information. The Federal Trade Commission says there are four main ways to help protect yourself against identity theft.
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The IRS recently announced additional requirements for taxpayers and tax professionals to verify their identities when they call as part of security efforts.
Taxpayers and professionals should have the following documents ready when they call:
What we’re reading today:
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