{"id":13492,"date":"2018-02-22T22:33:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T04:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=13492"},"modified":"2018-02-22T22:33:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T04:33:39","slug":"tdci-warns-consumers-about-new-twist-on-tax-refund-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2018\/02\/22\/tdci-warns-consumers-about-new-twist-on-tax-refund-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"TDCI Warns Consumers About New Twist on Tax Refund Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-34835\" title=\"Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/tn-consumer-affairs.gif\" alt=\"Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division\" width=\"240\" height=\"106\"><strong>Nashville, TN<\/strong> &#8211; With tax filing season underway, the Tennessee Department of Commerce &amp; Insurance\u2019s (TDCI) Division of Consumer Affairs is sharing a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/scam-alert-irs-urges-taxpayers-to-watch-out-for-erroneous-refunds-beware-of-fake-calls-to-return-money-to-a-collection-agency\" >warning from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)<\/a> that cautions consumers about a new scam tactic involving erroneous tax refund deposits.<\/p>\n<p>According to the IRS, the scam began with cyber criminals employing malware to mine client data from tax professionals\u2019 computers.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Scam-Alert.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-301705\" title=\"Scam Alert\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Scam-Alert-480x360.jpg\" alt=\"Scam Alert\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\"><\/a><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The criminals use the stolen data to file fraudulent tax returns, listing the taxpayers&#8217; real bank accounts for the deposit.<\/p>\n<p>Thieves then utilize various, ever-evolving tactics to reclaim the refund from the taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>In one version of the scam, criminals pose as debt collection agency officials acting on behalf of the IRS. They contact the taxpayers to say a refund was deposited in error, and they ask the taxpayers to forward the money to their collection agency.<\/p>\n<p>In another version, the taxpayer who received the erroneous refund gets an automated call with a recorded voice saying he is from the IRS and threatens the taxpayer with criminal fraud charges, an arrest warrant and a \u201cblacklisting\u201d of their Social Security Number. The recorded voice gives the taxpayer a case number and a telephone number to call to return the refund.<\/p>\n<p>The IRS urges taxpayers who are affected by this scam to follow these <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/taxtopics\/tc161\" >established official procedures<\/a> for returning an erroneous refund to the agency. The IRS also encourages taxpayers to discuss the issue with their financial institutions because there may be a need to close bank accounts. Taxpayers receiving erroneous refunds also should contact their tax preparers immediately.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TDCI reminds consumers that the IRS will never:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or email.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Call or email you to verify your identity by asking for personal and financial information.<strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail you a bill if you owe any taxes.<\/li>\n<li>Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Demand payment without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Consumers can find more detailed information about this and other tax refund scams, by visiting the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/scam-alert-irs-urges-taxpayers-to-watch-out-for-erroneous-refunds-beware-of-fake-calls-to-return-money-to-a-collection-agency\" >IRS website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For more consumer tips and resources, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tn.gov\/consumer\" >www.tn.gov\/consumer<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nashville, TN &#8211; With tax filing season underway, the Tennessee Department of Commerce &amp; Insurance\u2019s (TDCI) Division of Consumer Affairs is sharing a warning from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that cautions consumers about a new scam tactic involving erroneous tax refund deposits. According to the IRS, the scam began with cyber criminals employing malware [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[10148,641,642,3585,284,1714,1552,3119,2165,6616,1060,2288],"class_list":["post-13492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","tag-cyber-criminals","tag-internal-revenue-service","tag-irs","tag-malware","tag-nashville-tn","tag-scam","tag-social-security-number","tag-tax-refund","tag-taxpayers","tag-tdci","tag-tennessee-consumer-affairs-division","tag-tennessee-department-of-commerce-and-insurance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13493,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions\/13493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}