Latest Scam Could Involve Your Tax Return

There is a new Identity Theft Scam circulating, and we'd like you to be aware.

The Effingham County Sheriff's Department said a local resident recently received a refund check from a nationally recognized tax preparer.  The letter and the check were embossed with the tax preparer’s logo and appeared to be legitimate and included a tax refund check made out by the company.  It appears that the suspects are filing tax returns, either on line or in person, with stolen identities and requesting an instant refund, which they receive.  After the final review of the tax return the tax preparer either sends out a check for the final amount of the refund (usually less than $200.00) or asks for funds back.  This final check, or request for funds back, is mailed to the true address of the identity theft victim.

The Sheriff’s Office does not believe these false claims are being filed at any of our local tax preparing businesses, but some of the victims are from the area.

If you receive a refund check from a tax preparer and have not yet filed your taxes, or go to file your taxes and find they have all ready been filed, you may have been a victim of identity theft.  If you find you are a victim you need to:

--File a Police Report with your local Law Enforcement Agency

--File a Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or call 1-877/438-4338

Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a “fraud alert” on your credit records, which is free to victims of Identity Theft:

--Equifax, www.Equifax.com, 1-800-525-6285

--Experian, www.Experian.com, 1-888-397-3742

--TransUnion, www.TransUnion.com, 1-800-680-7289

An excellent source of information and instructions on how to deal with this problem can be found at www.irs.gov under the heading IDENTITY THEFT, then click on TAXPAYER GUIDE TO IDENTITY THEFT. This page provides step by step details on how to guard against further damage and how to deal with the IRS.