The New Tax Rebate Plan Has The Identity Theft Criminals Out In Abundance

The Makings of a Scam

Yes, the government is sending out rebate checks to revive the economy. They should start going out as early as May. You actually don't need to do anything to get these checks (except file your 2007 taxes). However, that's not what the identity theft criminals want you to think.

See, there are some lowlife scumbags who are pretending to work for the IRS. They're making calls to people claiming to need personal information to process their government rebate checks. They're asking for things like income amounts, address, social security number, etc. Don't fall for it.

First of all, the IRS knows everything they need to know about you. They have your social, your address, your date of birth and they know how much money you make. They do not need to call you on the phone to get this information. Never EVER give this information out over the phone.

What To Do If You've Been Had

If you've gotten a call from one of these cretins and you've already taken the bait, it's time to take action. If you don't want to be the next identity theft victim, contact the credit bureaus and put a fraud watch on your credit reports. Then, if you haven't already, make sure you sign up with a credit monitoring service and keep an eye on it each and every month.

You should also call the police and file a police report. If you have caller ID, provide the police with any information that shows up including the date and time of the call and the number the call came from. By working together, we can catch these identity theft criminals in the act and put them where they belong -- behind bars.

You can read more about current IRS scams at this scam busting website.