California FTB Warns Businesses and Individuals about Tax Identity Theft and Refund Fraud Scams

Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has issued a warning to businesses and individuals that tax identity theft and refund fraud schemes where criminals steal an employee’s information and file a fraudulent tax return to claim and redirect a taxpayer’s refund are off to a fast start this filing season.

According to the FTB, approximately 100 businesses employing 126,000 individuals suffered from tax identity theft in 2016, and roughly 80 businesses have already been targeted in the first weeks of 2017. Tax season traditionally runs from January to Tax Day, which this year falls on April 18, 2017.

The FTB advises human resources officers to be wary of any suspicious W-2 data requests that come from outside of the business that could be the work of scammers seeking to commit tax identify theft and refund fraud. The FTB also urges individual taxpayers to be cautious of the following:

• Any phone call or email requesting passwords or information about credit cards and bank accounts since FTB agents never ask for these details.
• Threats to contact local police or other law enforcement if a tax debt is not paid.
• Demands for payment by third-party or pre-paid debit cards.

“Protecting personal information is always important, but fraudsters are even more prevalent during tax season,” State Controller chair of FTB Betty Yee stated in the warning. “Our FTB team is working hard to weed out fraudulent returns and ensure tax refunds go to the rightful taxpayers.”

The FTB prevented more than $70 million worth of tax identity theft and refund fraud during Fiscal Year 2015-2016, up from more than $28 million during Fiscal Year 2014-2015. The FTB works with the IRS Security Summit and Federation of Tax Administrators to help stop tax identity theft and refund fraud.

The FTB administers two of California’s major tax programs: Personal Income Tax and the Corporation Tax. Taxpayers are urged to report tax identity theft and refund fraud schemes to FTB as soon as possible either by calling the FTB at 800.852.5711 or visiting www.ftb.ca.gov/online/Fraud_Referral/index.shtml.

As reported earlier by ESR News, Javelin Strategy & Research released the 2017 Identity Fraud Study that found the number of identity theft victims increased 16 percent to reach 15.4 million U.S. consumers in 2016, and that the amount of money taken rose by nearly one billion dollars to $16 billion.

More Information about Identity Theft from ESR

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a global provider of background checks – offers information about identity theft in the ESR News Blog archives at www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/tag/identity-theft/.  To learn more about ESR, please call toll free 888.999.4474 or visit www.esrcheck.com.

NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.

© 2017 Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – Making copies or using of any part of the ESR News Blog or ESR website for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is first obtained from ESR.