MSMA has learned that a large-scale federal tax scam that hit physicians in the last two years will rear its ugly head again. Physicians in Missouri and other states have again been made victims of an identity theft scam involving federal income tax returns.
In most instances, tax returns have been filed fraudulently by crooks – using physician names, addresses, and Social Security – in an attempt to recover tax refunds. Victims don’t realize they’ve been scammed until they attempt to file their own tax return, only to be told by the IRS that a return has already been filed.
MSMA is working with the U.S. Secret Service on this matter. If you have any reason to believe you are a victim of this scam, take the following action as soon as possible!
Take these steps as soon as possible:
Call the IRS at (800) 908-4490, and report your suspected identity theft.
Call the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213, and let them know.
- Place a fraud alert on your credit file by contacting one of the three credit reporting companies. The company you contact is required to contact the other two, which will then place a full alert on your credit report. The three companies are:
- Equifax - (800) 525-6285 – http://www.equifax.com/home/en_us
- Trans Union - (800) 680-7289 – http://www.transunion.com/
- Experian - (888) 397-3742 – http://www.experian.com/
Fill out and submit the IRS Form14039, which can be found at this site: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf
Please e-mail MSMA Executive Vice President Tom Holloway at tholloway@msma.org and provide your full name, home address, and telephone number. MSMA is working with the U.S. Secret Service and has been asked to provide the names of suspected victims.
Consider visiting these websites for more information and tools to help you:
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Federal Trade Commission
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0008-tax-related-identity-theft
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Internal Revenue Service
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Social Security Administration