Our security technology is built with the decades of experience we have protecting our customers’ data. This latest phishing issue isn’t likely to make consumers any happier with TurboTax. Although the company earns a 3.8-star rating out of 5 stars on ConsumerAffairs, those who have left reviews about the company in 2022 cite several issues.
- Don’t think you’re the only one singled out for this tactic; aggressive, threatening phone scams occur regularly across the country.
- See if their social media profiles and website look credible—even visit in-person if they have a location near you.
- We take the security of your account very seriously and want to assure you that securing the data you have entrusted us with is of utmost importance to us.
- They then instruct you to buy gift cards from different stores and give them the card numbers and PINs to pay the balance.
- From multi-factor authentication to our anti-fraud technology, you can learn more about what we use to protect your data, how it works, and how it benefits you.
- You can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.
They may threaten legal action or other kinds of consequences if they don’t make a payment or verify certain information. The IRS will never call you to demand payments or verify your credentials. You will receive a letter in the mail if you need to resolve an issue. They often pretend to be IRS agents, informing their targets of problems with their returns or refunds and telling them that the only solution is to send their Social Security numbers or bank account information.
As usual, there are small grammatical and spelling mistakes that hint this might be a phishing email. There shouldn’t be a comma in the last sentence and “vulnerability” should be plural — mistakes that a huge corporation with professional copywriters would be unlikely to make. From multi-factor authentication to our anti-fraud technology, you can learn more about what we use to protect your data, how it works, and how it benefits you. The intended recipient simply entered the wrong email address or phone number—which happened to be yours—by mistake.
TurboTax phishing scam may be out to steal your refund — what to do
Hesitate before signing on with a tax preparer who promises you far more than you expected to get in a refund. If you have doubts about the legality of the schemes proposed, consider obtaining a second opinion. “Scan your turbotax spoof email system using an up-to-date anti-virus program [and] change your passwords.” It’s pretty certain that the crooks set up the links to show one address, but actually go to other websites pretending to be Intuit pages.
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The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an IRS-created organization designed to help with issues related to your taxes and the IRS as a whole. Despite the norm, the TAS does make calls to individuals to help find resolutions. IRS scammers use this difference to make calls posing as TAS representatives informing people of an increased tax refund they received. They may ask for your SSN, birthdate, and other personal information to verify your identity and claim your refund. An ongoing fraud tactic riding the coattail of the COVID-19 pandemic is stimulus check scams. A tax thief may send you a text message impersonating the IRS that informs you of a stimulus check you qualify for.
In gift card scams, the thief calls pretending to be an IRS agent notifying you of a tax penalty you received or an overuse balance you owe. They then instruct you to buy gift cards from different stores and give them the card numbers and PINs to pay the balance. Tax refund recalculation scams work to convince you that the IRS owes you more than they initially stated by sending a phishing email from the IRS. Invest your money in certain shelters, they claim, and you’ll avoid paying taxes.
Offers to move money offshore
Whenever you pay someone to do your taxes, they must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and sign your return once complete. Showing opposition to signing is an indication they are a ghost tax preparer only interested in collecting a fee and splitting once they get the chance. The IRS will never call about an unexpected tax refund.
While many of these sites are legitimate operations, they aren’t endorsed by, licensed by, or otherwise affiliated with Intuit or TurboTax. We can’t and don’t guarantee their services or accuracy. The best and only way to reach official TurboTax support is through TurboTax.com and our Contact Us page.
Or the email will include a link that, when opened, installs into the victim’s computer spyware or malware that can then mine all their files and personal data. Phishing scams encompass a wide variety of IRS scams that are used on filers today. The goal of them all is https://turbo-tax.org/ to convince the receiver that the message is legitimate and to get the target to continue to the embedded link included in the email. These links typically lead to fake IRS websites created to record any information you input using different forms of spyware.
Keep personal information private
If the scammer succeeds, the money is likely to stay hidden from you as well, and the IRS may prosecute you. Being aware of common tax scams and how to address them can help you keep yourself and your information secure at tax time. Here’s a guide to the top 10 tax scams you should know about. TurboTax said its own system has not been breached, but that doesn’t help explain the spike. The reality is that there are plenty of places where criminals can get stolen personal information. And all you need to file a fake tax return is a name and Social Security number.
The Premier Plan offers Tri-Bureau Credit Monitoring, Financial Account Takeover Notifications, and a full suite of identity monitoring services. @Tstreff59- A homestead credit normally applies to your real estate property tax, which would be unrelated to your income tax return, so there wouldn’t be any place on your tax return to enter it. TurboTax has not said how many were flagged last week, but there was a significant spike.
We take the security of your account very seriously and want to assure you that securing the data you have entrusted us with is of utmost importance to us. I don’t know what “TurboTax data” it’s talking about. I don’t even want to click on “contact us” to “report” it. If you purchased the MAX benefits add on to the TT program then the ID Notify was part of the package so you should have gotten an email alerting you on how to access this benefit.
“I know one person who had a $10,000 refund and paid $2,000 in fees to a fake tax preparer, who then disappeared with all the money,” Freeman said. If you know what to look for—simple signs that betray the scam artist’s deception—you can survive tax season unscathed. There are also sites out there that offer technical support for TurboTax or other Intuit products.
