THE HOLIDAYS: A TIME FOR MISTLETOE AND … FRAUD?

Don't let a thief turn you into a festive fool this season. Follow these tips to avoid holiday shopping fraud, whether you're buying online or at your local mall.

BEWARE OF EMAIL HACKS

One of several identity theft scams IRS Commissioner John A. Koskinen spoke about at a recent IRS Nationwide Tax Forum is a client email hack scam. This happens when a thief uses a taxpayer's email address to send an email to a tax preparer with instructions to redirect refunds into a different bank account.

Protect your tax returns this tax season by ensuring your email accounts and important data is kept safe with strong passwords, malware protection and other security measures.

HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT FROM AFFECTING YOU

The IRS has made great strides in protecting taxpayers from identity thieves, but you must still be diligent to protect your information.

Identity thieves can steal a taxpayer's personal information and use it to file a tax return claiming a refund under the taxpayer's name. Then when the taxpayer actually files a return, the IRS won't accept it and notifies the taxpayer that a return under his or her name and ID number has already been filed.

The IRS recommends that taxpayers should do the following in order to avoid becoming an identity theft victim:

• Guard your personal information. Identity thieves can get your information by stealing your wallet or purse, going through your trash, or posing as someone who needs your information for a legitimate reason.
• Watch out for IRS impersonators. Don't fall for phone calls, faxes, e-mails, or other contacts made by people claiming to be from the IRS. Do not respond to the message, open any attachments in an e-mail or click on any links.
• The IRS recommends that you enter "phishing" in the search box at the top of its website (www.irs.gov) to get more information on avoiding tax scams. E-mail suspected scams to phishing@irs.gov.
• Protect information on your computer. Protect your tax information with a password, and once you're finished with your tax data, take it off your hard drive.