Mar 12, 2021 4 min read

We are in the middle of tax-filing season, and at this time, the Internal Revenue Service does not intend to move the filing date beyond April 15.

If you are not done on that date, you can file for an automatic extension of six months until Oct. 15. Even if you file this form, you must pay any estimated taxes due or face a penalty.

Identity theft scams are always a problem, but they may happen even more often during tax-filing season. Today we will discuss several of the most prevalent scams.

The IRS identified $2.3 billion in tax fraud last year. A lot of this comes from online schemes. This year, tax preparers are asking whether you received both stimulus checks last year. While this money is tax-free, your tax return will be the way you claim checks you did not receive.

Filing your income tax return early might protect your tax refund. When your return is e-filed, the IRS computer immediately checks to see whether any Social Security numbers have already been used on another return. If so, it flags your return as a duplicate. You then will have to mail in your return and submit the IRS identity theft affidavit.

This will slow down your refund. This sometimes becomes a problem in child-custody cases in which both parents are claiming the same dependent. The second return is rejected immediately when it is put in the system.

There are often more phishing attacks around tax-preparation time. These are phony emails trying to steal your private information. They may offer you a chance to see when your refund will arrive or some other fake information.

Look for email addresses that come from hot.mail or gmail accounts. These are not official and are often used by scammers. The IRS will not communicate with you by email – only snail mail. It usually will not call you on the telephone and will never ask you to pay with gift cards. Police do not come and arrest you for an overdue tax bill.

If you see these types of pressure, delete immediately and do not click on links.

Crooks use fake websites that look very realistic. Never enter your Social Security number online. Watch for misspellings and domains other than typical .com and .gov. Instead of clicking on a link in an email, type the URL directly into the address bar of your browser.

Many scammers use information they gather from your social media postings. They find nuggets of information like birthdays, children and pet names and use this information to guess commonly used passwords. Some people post way too much information, like they are away on vacation or out of the house. This info is sometimes used by crooks to break into your house.

Always be careful when throwing out garbage, because of the information you may be exposing. You might dispose of an old drivers license or credit card. Sometimes, things like airline boarding passes contain private info.

Buy a shredding machine and use it to protect this sensitive information. Unfortunately, crooks are everywhere and they want to profit off of your mistakes.

You are the first line of defense against identity theft. If something does not look right, ask a family member or someone else you trust how you should handle the situation. It is better to be careful than sorry.

Gary Boatman is a Monessen-based certified financial planner and the author of “Your Financial Compass: Safe passage through the turbulent waters of taxes, income planning and market volatility.”

To submit columns on financial planning or investing, email Rick Shrum at rshrum@observer-reporter.com.