In the past week, the United States government started issuing Economic Impact Payments (EIP) of up to $1,200 per qualified individual and $500 per child. The amount of the EIP received depends on one’s adjusted gross income from the 2019 (or 2018) federal tax filing. If a taxpayer who is qualified to receive the check
IRS
Privacy Tip #225 – Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Tax identity theft continues to be a significant problem for taxpayers. Tax identity theft occurs when criminals use the personal information of individuals and file fraudulent tax returns before the taxpayer does, requesting a refund. When the real taxpayer files his or her tax return, the IRS kicks it back, explaining that it has already…
Privacy Tip #203 – Cryptocurrency Woes
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips, Virtual Currency
As cryptocurrency becomes more popular with investors, CipherTrace recently issued its Q2 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report, which finds that “[O]utright thefts as well as scams and other misappropriation of funds from cryptocurrency users and exchanges continued apace, netting criminals and fraudsters approximately $4.26 billion in aggregate for 2019.” Yikes—that’s billion with a “b”.
The…
Privacy Tip #198 – Cybersecurity for Tax Professionals
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Yesterday, I was honored to again have the opportunity to participate as a speaker at the Internal Revenue Service’s Nationwide Tax Forum 2019 in Washington, D.C. Through a generous grant provided by the American Coalition for Taxpayer Rights to the Pell Center of Salve Regina University, we are able to educate small- and medium-sized tax…
Privacy Tip #181- IRS Warns Consumers and Employers About Tax-Related Phishing Schemes
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
In another round of warnings from the federal government on protecting yourself from tax return fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its 2019 “Dirty Dozen” Campaign, designed to warn individuals about the most common tax-related phishing schemes that are focused on tax fraud and identity theft.
During tax season, cyber…
Privacy Tip #180 – National Consumer Protection Week—Tax Identity Theft
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
This week is National Consumer Protection Week. In celebration of that, this post is devoted to protection from tax identity theft.
At this time of year, as we all prepare and file our tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), we are reminded again that tax identity theft continues to be a problem. Tax…
Privacy Tip #167 – IRS Issues Warning About Tax Transcript Scam
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning to consumers about an email that appears to come from “IRS Online.” The email is designed to get the recipient to click on an attachment labeled “Tax Account Transcript” or “tax transcript,” which is infected with the Emotet malware.
Tax transcripts are summaries of your tax…
Developing Crypto’s Regulatory Landscape: A Survey of Recent Actions by Federal Regulators to Fence Off Jurisdiction Over Virtual Currencies
By Greg Bennici on
Posted in Blockchain, Virtual Currency
In the decades that followed the enactment of the Homestead Act of 1862, more than 1.6 million U.S. citizens and intended citizens filed applications with the U.S. government to lay claim to 160 acres of land guaranteed to each applicant willing to settle, farm and improve the lands.
Settlers quickly encountered a major problem. The…
FBI Issues New Warning to Businesses About Phishing Campaigns
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
In a recent Public Service Announcement dated February 21, 2018 entitled “Increase in W-2 Phishing Campaigns,” the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued another alert about an increase in phishing campaigns since the beginning of 2018.
According to the FBI, “IRS’s Online Fraud Detection & Prevention (OFDP), which monitors for suspected IRS-related phishing emails,…
Privacy Tip #129 – As New Medicare Cards are Issued: Beware of Scams
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
This writer has been lamenting for years about the fact that Medicare recipients’ Social Security numbers are included on the face of the card. This is an unnecessary risk posed to Medicare recipients, which are primarily senior citizens, some of our most vulnerable citizens, who are already preyed upon by scammers.
Medicare has recognized the…