Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Responding to Direct and Indirect Identity Theft Disputes Under the FCRA: What Are The Differences?
Torres Talks Trade Podcast Episode 9 on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Global Business Identifier program
Phishing: Cybersecurity’s Biggest Threat
Digging Deeper, Episode 1: The Con Queen of Hollywood
Preserving Black History in Bucks County, PA, with Recorder of Deeds Robin Robinson: On Record PR
What is Consumer Fraud and What Deceptions are Employed?
What Companies Should Do to Prepare for Implementation of Cybersecurity Executive Order
Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of April 8, 2024 – April 12, 2024. April 8, 2024: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-15,...more
A Ukrainian man living in the U.S. is facing up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of 18 federal felonies to defraud his former employer Microsoft out of more than $10 million in digital value. ...more
Tax identity theft continues to be a significant problem for taxpayers. Tax identity theft occurs when criminals use the personal information of individuals and file fraudulent tax returns before the taxpayer does, requesting...more
In another round of warnings from the federal government on protecting yourself from tax return fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its 2019 “Dirty Dozen” Campaign, designed to warn...more
Last week was National Consumer Protection Week. In celebration of that, this post is devoted to protection from tax identity theft. ...more
As tax season winds on, the W-2 form scam has emerged as one of the most dangerous and common phishing email schemes during this time of year....more
On November 11, 2018, the IRS released its Criminal Investigation Annual Report as it begins its 2019 fiscal year and its 100th anniversary as a law enforcement agency. IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is a federal agency...more
We have frequently reported about how devastating and widespread tax fraud is in the U.S.—in the past affecting hundreds of thousands of U.S. tax payers. Income tax preparers are at risk for cyber intrusions because they hold...more
Identity thieves continue to become increasingly sophisticated. The IRS noted an increase in fake filings for C corporations, S corporations, partnerships, and returns from trusts and estates. Forms 1120, 1120S, 1041, and...more
In a recent Public Service Announcement dated February 21, 2018 entitled “Increase in W-2 Phishing Campaigns,” the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued another alert about an increase in phishing campaigns since the...more
Today the Internal Revenue Service announced the third entry on its annual “dirty dozen” list of the tax schemes most commonly encountered by taxpayers during tax filing season. Even though instances of tax-related identity...more
With the 2018 tax filing season in full swing, the Internal Revenue Service today announced that it would unveil its annual “Dirty Dozen” tax schemes over the course of the next twelve consecutive days. At the top of this...more
Who knew—but yes, next week is Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week. How sad is it that we have to have a week devoted to education and awareness on this topic? ...more
It’s the start of tax season, and many employers are sending W-2 forms to employees so they can get ready to file their tax returns. As was true over the past few years, this is not only the busy season for tax preparers,...more
The Equifax breach is not the biggest in terms of the number of people affected (the 2016 Yahoo breach compromised data associated with over 500 million user accounts compared to the 143 million people affected by the Equifax...more
Did someone steal your tax return? You are not alone. Indeed, the rise in tax-related identity theft has been well documented. In 2015, the FTC reported a 50% increase in identity theft complaints. A primary cause for...more
In a scathing report published on March 27, 2017, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration blasted the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) following its analysis of the IRS’ steps following a data breach in 2015 that...more
HR and payroll professionals nationwide have been, and will continue to be, targeted with e-mails apparently sent by a senior executive but actually sent by scammers who ask for a prompt reply with the 2016 W-2s for all of...more
W-2 phishing schemes continue to be a problem for companies in every industry. Last week, American Senior Communities based in Indiana announced that one of its employees was scammed through a phishing email and thereafter...more
We continue to see all industries hit with W2 phishing scams, including the health care industry. Citizens Memorial Hospital, located in Bolivar, Missouri, was hit with the scam when one of its employees believed that an...more
Just when I thought everyone knew about the continued W2 schemes, where phishing emails are used to get company employees’ W2 forms so the thief can file a false tax return and get a refund, several additional clients have...more
Nakeisha Hall was sentenced in federal district court in August to serve nine years and two months in prison after she plead guilty for crimes she committed while working for the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. Instead of...more
We have written before about the ability of hackers to file false tax returns to get fraudulent refunds by using the IRS website, and how hundreds of thousands of Americans have become victims of tax fraud. The IRS...more
The filing of fraudulent tax returns continues to be a serious problem in this country. Last year alone, the IRS has admitted that up to 720,000 taxpayers were victims. Last week, a Georgia couple pled guilty to filing...more
It is well-known that the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service increase the frequency and intensity of their press releases announcing tax charges as “Tax Day” approaches (which is April 18 this year), so as to...more