Usually, taxes would have been due yesterday. But the IRS has given us until May 17th due to the pandemic. Which also means an extra month for scammers to try to steal your info. Here are three tax scams to be on the lookout for . . .
1. Missing stimulus payments. One of the biggest scams this year involves scammers telling you the IRS needs additional information to send your missing or late stimulus check. But the IRS will NEVER contact you through email, text, or social media.
2. Fake charities. During a crisis like Covid, scammers try to cash-in on our desire to support worthwhile causes. It might involve them posing as charities to get money from you, or asking you for personal financial information like your Social Security number.
3. Unemployment benefits. If your information was leaked in one of those massive data breaches in recent years, criminals could have claimed unemployment benefits under your name.
And since unemployment insurance is considered taxable income, if you're a victim of this type of fraud, you might discover your info was compromised when you get your tax forms and try to file your return.
If you get any communication you're unsure about, you can call the IRS to verify it at 800-829-1040 . . . and report any tax fraud at IRS.gov.