How to avoid ‘ghost preparers’ and other tax scams as the April 15 federal filing deadline approaches

As
the
April
15
federal
tax
deadline
draws
near,
most
taxpayers
have
less
than
two
weeks
to
submit
their
2023
individual
tax
return
or
file
an
extension
—
but
for
scammers,
that’s
still
ample
time
to
try
to
steal
filers’
personal
and
financial
information. 

Last
year,
the

IRS
received
294,138
complaints
of
reported
identity
theft,
the
second
most
in
its
history.
The
agency’s
criminal
investigation
agents
identified

more
than
$5.5
billion
in
tax
fraud. 

As
of
its
March
22
report,
the
IRS
has
processed
79.2
million
federal
returns
—
almost
half
of
the
167
million
individual
tax
returns
it
expects
to
be
filed
this
season,
according
to
IRS
spokesman
Eric
Smith. 

Taxpayers
who
have
yet
to
submit
their
return
or
tax
payment
need
to
take
precautions,
fraud
experts
say. 

“File
electronically
or
go
directly
into
the
post
office
to
mail
out
your
tax
returns
or
a
tax
payment,”
said
Jennifer
Hessing,
fraud
analytics
director
at
Wells
Fargo. “External
mailboxes
can
be
targets
for
theft
as
scammers
look
to
steal
personal
information
or
checks
being
sent
out
for
tax
payments.”

Here
are
three
common
tax
scams
and
ways
to
avoid
them: 

If
you
receive
an
email,
text,
or
call
from
an
unknown
person
or
company
offering
to
assess
your
potential
tax
savings
or
get
you
a
bigger
refund,
be
wary.

The
pitch
could
go
like
this: “We
would
love
to
get
that
[refund]
to
you
as
easily
and
as
quickly
as
possible.
All
you
need
to
do
is
provide
us
with
some
information,
and
we’ll
make
that
happen,”
said
Steve
Earls,
head
of
consumer
data
security
at
IDShield. “If
you’re
like, ‘I
don’t
trust
you,
do
you
have
a
phone
number
I
could
call?’
They
even
have
fake
call
centers.
It’s
all
the
same
kind
of
conglomerate.”  

Calls,
emails
or
text
messages
from
scammers
posing
as
legitimate
tax
or
financial
organizations
may
also
ask
you
for
valuable
personal
and
financial
information
that
can
lead
to
identity
theft. 

Other
schemes
may

help
you
set
up
an
online
account
at
IRS.gov
to
fill
out
and
process
your
return
more
quickly.
You
may
be
asked
for
your
Social
Security
number
or
Individual
Taxpayer
Identification
Number
and
a
photo
ID
to
set
up
the
online
account.

Then
the
fraudster
can
sell
that
information
or
use
it
themselves
to
file
fraudulent
tax
returns,
open
credit
card
accounts
or
get
loans.  

A “ghost
tax
preparer”
may
prepare
your
return
but

fail
to
sign
the
document
or
provide
their
address
or
tax
ID
number.
They
may
assume
you’ll
sign
a
return
without
verifying
this
information
and
have
then
already
captured
your
personal
and
financial
information. 

One
of
the
easiest
ways
to
spot
a
scam
is
when
a
taxpayer
hires
someone
to
prepare
a
return
and
information
on
the
paid
preparer
section
of
the
return
is
missing
or
says “self-prepared,”
said
Los
Angeles-based
certified
public
accountant
Miklos
Ringbauer.

“That
should
be
the
very
first
and
utmost
red
flag
for
a
client
when
they
are
looking
at
the
return
to
review,”
he
said. “A
taxpayer
should
never
file
a
return
and
just
sign
without
reviewing
their
returns.”

CNBC’s
Stephanie
Dhue
contributed
reporting.

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