Super Sister to the Rescue!

I’m an awesome sister!  Just ask my brothers.  Or don’t because they’re brothers, so they might mislead you.  Just take my word for it.  I have evidence.

I just got off the phone with my older (like really old... 

... just kidding) brother. He called in a huff, because he’d just received an unsettling phone call. It went something like this:

Phone rings with strange or blocked number.
Brother misses call, calls back because he “always answers or calls back telemarketers to harass them.”
Fellow with Indian accent answers and says he is from IRS headquarters.

IRS: “The local office has sent you two letters to which you were unresponsive.  You are being sued by the IRS for the $1,877.00 you owe.  Do you have a criminal attorney?”

My brother (who happens to be a little lapse in his filings, begins a debate with the guy):  “What address did you send the letters to?  … That’s not my address anymore so of course I was non-responsive.”

IRS: “The letter comes from the local office, I am at headquarters ….”

The call continued in this manner until it was disconnected.

IRS Guy

I held my breath while listening to my brother’s explanation, because I knew exactly what was happening.  My brother was being targeted for identity theft.  Fortunately, he did not provide a current address, nor verify any other information.  Surely, if he was willing, the caller would have gotten him to verify his SS# too. That would be all he needed to file a tax return on behalf of my brother with the refund check electronically sent to the scammers checking account. 

When my brother finished telling the story and I confirmed that he had not given any info, I told him, the IRS will never call you.  That is the most important line of this post.  THE IRS WILL NEVER CALL YOU. 

Relieved my brother said, “See!  You don’t just sit around all day doing nothing!  You are collecting valuable information!”  I collected this info from multiple news reports I’ve seen over the last few years.  IRS fraud is on the rise and will only increase as technology makes it easier for us to file our taxes electronically.  If you suspect you have been a victim of tax fraud or know you have been a victim of identity theft, the IRS has info on the steps to take at this link.  Alerts can be set up for questionable activity.

Identify theft is as popular as American sports, IMO.  I’ve been targeted before by a former neighbor’s boyfriend (my name was Kimya Morris, hers was Kim Morris and we lived in the same building).  He’d put a cell phone bill in my name and somehow my age was altered to make me about 70 years old.  It was annoying and to this day, I use my middle name when applying for credit, so the credit agencies know it’s really me.  But beyond that I continue living an on-line and in-store life that relies almost exclusively on credit cards.  Because they will refund me my money.  Debit cards don’t offer as much protection and clearly cash is just gone.  Here is a list of what protections you have for each type of card. 

In conclusion, I told my brother, what I’ve told lots of friends and family lately … “Download this app!”  J  Of course there’s an app for that!!  True Caller, a free app, allows all its users to report calls as spam.  How does this benefit you?  The app settings allow you to block calls from all numbers others have identified as telemarketers.  A few questionable calls will ring through with a special red caller ID. These are suspected as spam and you can chose to block them immediately.  Then do your part when you receive an unmarked call that turns out to be a telemarketer and help others by marking it as spam.  It takes a village!  I was getting about 5 calls per day after applying for a mortgage refinance last year.  After downloading the app, the calls decreased steadily.  Now I may get a 1-2 a week at most.

Alright, I can’t just sit around all day and blog.  That might be what people think I do! J 

Talk soon –BMK

Me, sitting around doing nothing all day

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