Financial Focus: Tax Season Equals Tax Scammers

By PROF. ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

In our first article focusing on income tax scams and identity theft, we began to cover some of the traditional ways one gets scammed.

In 2018, with modern technology and spyware anything is now possible. Two examples are below:

The One Where They Steal Your Refund: Someone will file a fraudulent tax return on your behalf, claiming all sorts of benefits and deductions that you’re not entitled to. When you file your real return, the IRS thinks you already filed and presses STOP on everything. In reality, the only thing that will be stopped is your tax refund going to you–the thief always has it.

How to avoid it: File right now so you can beat the criminals to the punch.

The One Where They Deposit Money in Your Bank Account: Criminals can hack tax preparers’ systems, including the big tax preparation companies, and can take your information, file a fake tax return in your name, and then put the refund in your bank account without you even knowing.

Then the scammers call you, posing as a debt collection agency to tell you the money was deposited in error and tell you to forward the money to their “collection agency.”

Many in 2018 are falling for this scam, realizing that the extra monies” in their accounts where not theirs in the first place, thus presuming, the scam is true

How to avoid it: Call your bank to report the suspicious activity and have them return the stolen money to the IRS. Then call your tax preparer right away and tell them what happened. Remember, you can not keep the money–it’s not yours–it’s been stolen from the IRS.

As an identity theft sidenote, you should have your credit card report checked. Remember, the recent Equifax breach exposed Social Security numbers and other information that could be handy for filing fake returns.

While the power of technology makes life more simple for us, the use of this technology puts our information in great danger.

Anthony Rivieccio is the founder and CEO of The Financial Advisors Group, celebrating its 20th year as a fee-only financial planning firm specializing in solving financial problems. Mr. Rivieccio, a recognized financial expert since 1986, has been featured by many national and local media including: Klipingers Personal Finance, The New York Post, News 12 The Bronx, Bloomberg News Radio, BronxNet, the Norwood News, The West Side Manhattan Gazette, Labor Press Magazine, Financial Planning Magazine, WINS 1010 Radio, The Bronx News, and The Bronx Chronicle. MrRivieccio is also currently an Adjunct Professor of Business , Finance & Accounting for both, City University of New York & Monroe College, a Private University. For financial assistance or a FREE 2017 Income Tax Analysis. Anthony can be reached at (347) 575-5045.

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