IRS Imposter Scams
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a scam alert regarding tax identity theft. Phone calls are being received from an IRS imposter threatening arrest if you do not pay the taxes owed immediately. You are then instructed to wire the funds or put it on a prepaid debit card. Some consumers have even been threatened with deportation or revoking of your driver’s license as a scare tactic. Be extremely careful with these calls, they can sound legitimate and even have a caller id that is fake which could read IRS.
For more information about this scam, please refer to the Federal Trade Commission website.
GET YOUR CREDIT FREEZE FOR FREE!!!
It is now free in every U.S. state to freeze your credit file and that of your dependents!
A security freeze essentially blocks any potential creditors or identity thieves from being able to view your credit file, unless you grant permission beforehand. With a freeze in place on your credit file, ID thieves can apply for credit in your name all they want, but they will not succeed in getting new lines of credit in your name because few if any creditors will extend that credit without first being able to determine your credit history by pulling your credit file.
To file a freeze, consumers must contact each of the three major credit bureaus online, by phone or by mail. Here’s the contact information for each bureau:
Online: Equifax Freeze Page
By phone: 800-685-1111
By Mail: Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5788
Online: Experian
By phone: 888-397-3742
By Mail: Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013
Online: TransUnion
By Phone: 888-909-8872
By Mail: TransUnion LLC
P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016
Fraud alerts now last for one year (previously they lasted just 90 days) but consumers can renew them each year.
BE EXTRA CAREFUL ABOUT EMAILS AND LINKS
Users should avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails that claim to be updates from Equifax or connected to the breach.
Equifax will send paper mail to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personally identifying information were impacted. It has also created a dedicated website for consumers to see if they were affected at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. They can also call the Equifax call center at 866-447-7559.
Hackers often use news of big breaches to conduct "phishing" campaigns, sending official-looking emails that make it seem as if the affected company or other legitimate services are asking them to supply information or click through to a link to repair any damage.
When in doubt, call or email the company that appears to be sending the message separately, don't go through the email you've been sent.
CHANGE PASSWORDS
Especially if you typically use similar passwords and security questions on multiple accounts, do this. Once hackers have access to ID and password information for one system, they routinely try the same combination against multiple other platforms to see which ones work, an easily automated process.
ENABLE TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
For the vast majority of victims who didn’t have credit information compromised, the biggest risk here is that a criminal uses this information to answer your “security questions” and reset your password. That usually sends a password reset to your email account, so making sure that email account is secure should be your primary concern, said Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity strategy for Illumio, and former director of cybersecurity policy for the White House under President Obama.
Two-factor authentication keeps them from doing that by sending a text message or call to the user's phone with a code as a second verification step. The code which must be typed in before the account can be opened.
CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD AND OTHER ACCOUNTS
Review your online accounts for suspicious activity. That includes banks, credit card companies and hotel and airline loyalty programs. Hackers frequently slice and dice information from large data breaches, selling groups of user information for specific companies on the dark web. Even the smallest accounts can be bundled together into a large group to be sold.
HCB Debit Card
Please be advised The Hardin County Bank has implemented transaction blocks for certain high risk states and merchants. To avoid any issues, we recommend that you use your PIN number whenever possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Deposit Operations at (731) 926-8700.
