Tax season is upon us once again and the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan says beware of potential tax scams. The BBB if offering up some tips to help you stay safe.
“The best thing you can do to avoid any sort of tax scam is to file early.”
That’s Katie Grevious, Communication Specialist with the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan. She says scams are common during tax season with the number one scam being identity theft.
“Scammers like to take your social security number and other information and file your taxes for you, which sounds weird, but then they’re going to get your refund. And a lot of time victims don’t realize they’ve victims until when they go to file months later in April and then that opens up a whole book of problems.”
Again, Grevious says filing early could help prevent this. Another popular scam is people impersonating the IRS.
The scammers call, email or text claiming to be from the IRS. But Grevious the phone call alone is a red flag.
“The IRS is never going to call you, email you or call you. They communicate through mail. One of the big signs of these IRS impersonation scams is that there is usually some sort of pressure to act now; pay me now or you’re going to be arrested, things like that.
In addition to filing early, the BBB also recommends make sure you go to IRS.GOV when filing and not another website that might pop up. Plus, only deal with reputable tax preparers.
The BBB has numerous tax tips on their website at bbb.org/taxtips.
If you re the victim of identity theft, Grevious says all the IRS at 1-800-908-4490. You should also notify the Federal Trade Commission.
