scam - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

That Email or Text from the IRS: It’s a Scam!

“Thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams,” according to the IRS. The scams may come in through email, text messages, telephone calls or regular mail. Criminals regularly target both individuals and businesses and often prey on the elderly.

Important: The IRS will never contact you by email, text or social media channels about a tax bill or refund. Most IRS contacts are first made through regular mail. So if you get a text message saying it’s the IRS and asking for your Social Security number, it’s someone trying to steal your identity and rob you. Remember that the IRS already has your Social Security number.

“Scammers are coming up with new ways all the time to try to steal information from taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “People should be wary and avoid sharing sensitive personal data over the phone, email or social media to avoid getting caught up […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-07-05T19:17:36+00:00July 5th, 2023|fraud, irs, News|0 Comments

Client Alert: Beware of Payment Instructions Over Email

We have been seeing an increase in criminal cyber-fraud schemes affecting both large and small businesses, individuals and banks. With the increase in remote work, online payments and email usage, a common fraud we are seeing more of is criminals are using a Business Email Compromise (BEC) hack as a way of posing as the company sending the invoice to the recipient, then upon payment, the payors account gets drained with little to no trace of the criminal tied to the fraud.

So how does it work and what is a BEC?

Business email compromise (BEC) or “phishing” is a technique used to gain access to your company email so criminals can impersonate a co-worker, manager or other trusted business partner to steal sensitive data and money. With access to your business email accounts, criminals can steal money through fraudulent wire transfer requests, fake invoices, diverting payroll and more. Protecting your email is essential. BEC emails usually contain no malware and are therefore difficult to detect with common email filtering means.

How does a typical BEC scam work?

A common technique is email spoofing. Email spoofing occurs when the email appears to be sent by […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2021-01-13T19:10:32+00:00January 13th, 2021|fraud|0 Comments

IRS Issues Warning About Coronavirus-Related Scams

The IRS warned taxpayers to watch out for emails, text messages, websites, and social media attempts related to the coronavirus that request money or personal information. Taxpayers should not click on links from emails that appear to come from the IRS. The IRS and its Criminal Investigation Division have seen a wave of new and evolving phishing schemes against taxpayers. In most cases, the IRS will deposit economic impact payments into the direct deposit account taxpayers previously provided on tax returns. Taxpayers who have previously filed but not provided direct deposit information to the IRS will be able to provide their banking information through a newly designed secure portal on www.irs.gov in mid-April. If the IRS does not have a taxpayer’s direct deposit information, a check will be mailed to the address on file. No one from the IRS will be reaching out to taxpayers by phone, email, mail, or in person asking for information to complete economic impact payments. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to your Linkenheimer CPA.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:10+00:00April 6th, 2020|irs|0 Comments

Watch Out for Tax-Related Scams

“Thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams,” according to the IRS. Criminals can contact victims through regular mail, telephone calls and email messages. Here are just two of the scams the tax agency has seen in recent months.

Fake property liens. A tax bill is sent from a fictional government agency in the mail. The fake agency may have a legitimate sounding name such as the Bureau of Tax Enforcement. The bill is accompanied by a letter threatening an IRS lien or levy based on bogus overdue taxes. (A levy is a legal seizure of property to satisfy a tax debt. A lien is a legal claim against your property to secure payment of your tax debt.)
Phony calls from the IRS. In this scam, criminals impersonating IRS employees call people and tell them that, if they don’t pay back taxes they owe, they will face arrest. The thieves then demand that the taxpayers pay their tax debts with a gift card, other prepaid cards or a wire transfer.

Important reminders

If you receive a text, letter, email or phone call […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:35+00:00October 8th, 2019|irs|0 Comments

Equifax Data Breach- What You Should Know

The Equifax data breach, which is estimated to have impacted 143 million Americans – nearly half the US population – is considered one of largest data breaches in history. So there is a good chance you or someone you know will be impacted by it. While hackers and scammers have been targeting innocent consumers for decades, this data breach will only complicate matters. But there are steps you can take which should allow you to rest a little easier.

First, you need to determine if any of your information was exposed or has been manipulated. You can do this by entering your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number at Equifax’s website. The site will tell you if you’ve been affected by the data breach. Side note- people have reported that one day it will tell them they aren’t affected, but when they try again later they are, so it would be worthwhile to try it a few times to make sure they provide consistent info.
Whether or not you were exposed, Equifax has set up a free one-year monitoring service called “TrustID Premier” which you can sign up […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:04:53+00:00October 6th, 2017|fraud, irs|0 Comments