IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig is warning people to be wary of hackers trying to steal their valuable tax payments and financial information during the upcoming tax and holiday season.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 08: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing June 8, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The committee is hearing testimony on the IRS budget request for 2022.
According to The Sun, commissioner Rettig is pleading with folks to not let it be the "most wonderful time of the year" for identity theft. That's because there's an increase in risk for taxpayers settling their dues (not to mention the holiday season shopping bash itself), which criminals would take as an opportunity to steal.
As such, the IRS is warning people to be even more vigilant with their financial information, more so when doing some online shopping or receiving and reading emails/texts.
Some of these suspicious messages could claim they're actually from the IRS while soliciting critical personal and financial information.
If for some reason you receive a message like that, the IRS warns that you should never give away anything (especially data like your Social Security number or any form of taxpayer identification).
People can also directly contact the IRS (via their tax professional) to confirm whether a suspicious individual they're transacting with is legitimate.
By doing so, people can prevent themselves from falling victim to hackers committing identity theft and tax fraud.
Identity theft in the United States is a massive problem. Last year alone, roughly 2.2 million fraud reports were filed (which constitutes a massive $3.3 billion in financial losses), and around 47% of Americans fell victim to financial identity theft, according to IdentityForce.
IRS Warning: Just How Bad Can Identity Theft Be?
The short answer is: pretty bad. But that's not even the scary part, since the odds of being victimized by such a scam are monumental.
According to data from ConsumerAffairs, around 7 to 10% of Americans fall victim to this type of crime, and as much as 21% of them are classified as repeat victims.
Literally anyone with a Social Security number is at risk of being targeted by hackers and similar criminals. But a few groups of people seem to be the most vulnerable/ This includes children and senior citizens, members of the US military, social media users, and even those who are deceased.
As such, the United States tallied a massive 311% increase in the number of identity fraud victims, with payouts amounting to an insane $350 million. This is the main reason the IRS is worried, specifically with the Holiday and tax seasons fast approaching.
How To Protect Yourself
As with anything, protecting your personal information from getting stolen is always a matter of prevention and being vigilant.
Most hackers try to trick people into unknowingly sharing important personal information by posing as legitimate entities sending legitimate-looking messages. They might claim to be anything--from IRS to federal agents, to even police officers and celebrities.
The best thing you can do is never interact with an individual you deem suspicious, more so if you believe their message came out of nowhere. Do not sign, click, or do anything they're telling you to do, and only transact with people who you know you can trust.
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Written by RJ Pierce
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