Pennsylvania’s Department of Revenue is urging Pennsylvanians to file their tax returns as soon as they can, in order to avoid falling victim to tax related fraud. WDIY’s Sarit Laschinsky has more.
Some of the tips the department shared to help prevent against deceptive scams include:
- Approach unusual email attachments and web links with caution, as these may contain malware.
- Be on the lookout for imposters. Criminals may pose as a government entity or official business.
- Use multi-factor authentication to protect accounts.
- Do not fall for high pressure tactics. Criminal scammers have been known to use tactics such as threatening taxpayers with criminal charges, arrest warrants, or the blacklisting of their social security number.
The Department of Revenue encourages state taxpayers to electronically file their Pennsylvania personal income tax returns with the department's state-only filing system, which is available at mypath.pa.gov.
Identity fraud victims, or people who discover that a fraudulent Pennsylvania personal income tax return was filed in their name, are asked to contact the department's Fraud Detection and Analysis Unit at RA-RVPITFRAUD@pa.gov.
(Original air-date: 3/1/22)