We have a client who is a recent victim of identity theft. Their personal identifying information was used to secure a tax refund of approximately $8,000. Funds were stolen from the US Treasury, not from our client.
Data breaches like this are becoming all too common. This week we cover some steps you can take to protect yourself.
Don’t be scammed by those posing as the IRS. Our household has received several aggressive attempts to scam us by posing as the IRS. These schemers are good! The IRS issued its Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2015. “Whether it’s a phone scam or scheme to steal a taxpayer’s identity, there are simple steps to take to help stop these con artists,” according to an Internal Revenue Service news release.
Protect Your Medical Data from Identity Theft. Identity thieves increasingly target medical records, a rich trove of personal information. Our client’s information was obtained from the data breach at Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This Wall Street Journal article offers some tips for consumers to protect themselves.
Be Vigilant-not Paranoid about CyberSecurity. One advisory firm goes into great detail about attacks against their clients in the last 12 months. This article provides a thorough set of recommendations to help you protect yourself.
Victim of tax ID theft? What to do next. This USA Today article tells you what to do if you have been scammed. It also provides links to resources to help you protect yourself against ID theft.
We hope you enjoy reading these articles along with us and that you find them informative. Please forward this to your friends and family.
J. Mark Nickell & Co.
Disclosure – The articles mentioned in This Week with J. Mark Nickell & Co. are for information and educational purposes only. They represent a sample of the numerous articles that the firm reads each week to stay current on financial and economic topics. The articles are linked to websites separate from the J. Mark Nickell & Co. website. The opinions expressed in these articles are the opinions of the author and not J. Mark Nickell & Co. This is not an offer to buy or sell any security. J. Mark Nickell & Co. is under no obligation to update any of the information in these articles. We cannot attest to the accuracy of the data in the articles.
