The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a press release that had its annual Dirty Dozen scams warning list- informing citizens that criminals would stoop low to get hold of others’ stimulus check payments.
In fact, the criminals still use the pandemic as a method of stealing the money and identities of people through social media posts, bogus emails, and unexpected phone calls- among a lot of other ways. These scams usually take quite a multitude of forms, which often include using the information about unemployment- as well as fake job offers- that would be used to steal money and information from a whole bunch of people. Such efforts can definitely lead to sensitive personal information getting stolen- with most of the scammers utilizing this to fill a fraudulent tax return.
Stimulus Check Scams Have Been On The Rise
Chuck Rettig, the IRS Commissioner, went on to claim in the news release that scammers would be using the pandemic as a major device through which they would be confusing or scaring potential victims into handing over their stimulus check money or other personal information. He also urged others to be careful of suspicious texts, calls, and emails that promise a lot of benefits that don’t really exist.
The IRS has been compiling the Dirty Dozen list for close to twenty years which usually serves as a way of alerting the tax professional community about schemes and scams. While the list is definitely not a legal document or literal use of the priorities of the enforcement agency, it is still designed to raise awareness- just like in the case of the stimulus check scams.
The IRS commissioner finally stated that awareness and caution were definitely the best lines of defense against such criminals that would be stealing stimulus check payments.
