Here we are, in the income tax preparation season. (Didn’t we just suffer through this?)

As usual, there are people so willing to help you. They offer all sorts of tips and tricks to save you money. But wait–are they asking for things like your social security number? How about your email login credentials? Most likely they are helping not you, but themselves. They are trying to gain your trust so you will give them personal information so they can become rich at your expense.

One of the scams that they run this time of year involves someone trying to contact you from the IRS by email claiming either you owe a ton of money or that the IRS owes you a ton of money. Either way, it’s a scam. The IRS will NEVER contact you by email. They want your personal information. Similarly, they will not contact you by phone. Hang up on people telling you they are IRS officers. Report them to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.

Another thing to be looking for: a website that looks like it may belong to the IRS. The real website has an address of www.irs.gov. That’s it. Very simple. If you get an email with a link to the IRS, remember to put your mouse over the link and check the real address of that link by looking at the lower left corner of your screen. The true link will show up there.

I closing, here’s a useful link to use if you want to know more from the IRS about identity theft: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft.