Tax season is upon us, and with it, an opportunity for scammers to try and capture your personal information for financial gain. Maintain vigilance, and if you get a strange feeling about phone call or e-mail, don’t hesitate to follow up and verify authenticity before doing anything else!
Here are some tips you can use to reduce your chances of being a victim:
-File your taxes as early as possible, this will help head off anyone else from fraudulently filing on your behalf.
-Do not take calls claiming to be from the IRS, the IRS will not call you. Just hang up, even if the caller purports to be from the “criminal investigative branch” of the IRS.
-If you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank or credit card company, hang up and call the financial institution back on their official customer service line.
-Clear important tax documents from your e-mail inbox and store securely elsewhere. A compromised e-mail address can become a treasure trove of tax forms for an attacker.
If you have any suspicions about communications, call the ITS service desk at 962-HELP, or report a suspicious message to https://phish.unc.edu.