Consumer Alert – Tax Refund and Economic Stimulus Payment

The IRS warns taxpayers to be on the alert for e-mails and phone calls they may receive which claim to come from the IRS or other federal agency and which mention their tax refund or economic stimulus payment.

6 Signs That Your Scholarship is Sunk

Here’s a pdf you can download courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission that highlights 6 signs that you need to look out for when applying for educational scholarships. To download the fact sheet, click here.

Is It Real or Fake?

Here’s one phishing trip that you won’t mind taking. It’s an interactive quiz provided by Consumer Reports to see if you can tell which email is real or fake. It’s a series of 12 screens showing actual emails, both fraudulent and legitimate (real names have been removed of course).

Millions of consumers get taken by these types of scams every year. So if you’re ready to test your skills, click here to be taken to the quiz.

The 2009 “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams

The Internal Revenue Service issued its 2009 “dirty dozen” list of tax scams, including schemes involving phishing, hiding income offshore and false claims for refunds.

“Taxpayers should be wary of scams to avoid paying taxes that seem too good to be true, especially during these challenging economic times,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “There is no secret trick that can eliminate a person’s tax obligations. People should be wary of anyone peddling any of these scams.”

Spear Phishing

The FBI is alerting consumers of a cyber scheme taking place across the country.

Customers of a telecommunications firm received an e-mail recently explaining a problem with their latest order. They were asked to go to the company website, via a link in the e-mail, to provide personal information—like their birth dates and Social Security numbers. But both the e-mail and the website were bogus.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…Check This Out!

We’ve all heard the timeless warning “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” It’s great advice, but the trick is figuring out when “good” becomes “too good.” And if you have a good salesperson—or worse, a dishonest one—it gets really hard.