By Keith Boles Posted:
Feb 20, 2008 found at kait8.com
JONESBORO, AR
(KAIT) - Those rebate checks are months away but you may be
waiting on your tax refund check. But if someone calls from the IRS and promises
you a speedy refund or rebate in exchange for your money watch out.
The inks hardly dry on the tax incentive
program and there is somebody out there trying to get your money. Well maybe
not your money but your information.
David Stell, IRS Spokesperson, "What we
know right now is that we've heard that callers are calling people telling
them that they can get their money faster, quicker by just giving them
personal information so that the money can be deposited into their bank
accounts."
First off, the chances are if you have filed
before the IRS already has this information. Check your 1040 forms.
Bruck Kious from Liberty Tax Service told
me how a typical call would go.
"Basically how this scam works is that a
scammer will pose as an IRS agent and say you're entitled to a sizeable rebate
check and all we need form you is your social security number and bank account
information. Well its given over the telephone so the taxpayer will naturally
refuse to do this."
Okay, call over. Well not quite, the scammer
now throws in a threat.
Kious, "Well you do not qualify for the
rebate check if you don't give me the information."
And if the telephone rings and somebody
says im the IRS there's a couple of things you need to know about the
telephone and how the IRS operates.>
Stell, "The bottom line is the IRS
does not notify people of refunds, rebates, or there federal payments by
telephone or e-mail."
There will be two official IRS notices
sent out. The first will explain the stimulus payout program. The second will
confirm your eligibility, the payment amount and the approximate time table
for the payment.
Remember, the IRS does very little by
phone.
Stell, "If you get a call from someone
proporting to be from the IRS and saying they can get you your rebate or
refund or any other federal payment sooner that specified. It is a scam, my
advice would be to hang up."
“There’s so much inventory out there that the buyer can pick and choose,” said Susan Sirles Fidler, a Realtor at Re/Max 10, Oak Lawn. But she cautioned, “The stuff that’s almost free is almost free because it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg to put it back together. It’s not buyer beware as much as buyer be smart.”
