ODESSA, Texas — Tax season is still in full swing, but it is important to remember to be cautious of scams. If you’re not careful things can take a turn for the worse.
“The most common scam during tax season is return preparers fabricating items on tax returns to induce larger returns for their clients.” said Rodrick Benton, Assistant Special Agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation Houston Field Office.
Doing simple research and observation can go a long way toward spotting a possible scam whenever you’re looking for tax preparers.
“One of the tell-tale signs is always if it’s extremely busy. If you go into a shop and it’s extremely busy, then something is probably amiss because return preparers generally don’t have the magic trick to generate big refunds.” said Benton.
If you become a victim of a scam, it’s important to get a hold of the authorities as soon as possible.
“If you realize you’re a victim or you feel like there’s some irregularities on your tax returns there is an affidavit on IRS.gov that you can fill out or you can submit a form 3949 information referral and that goes to civil and criminal IRS, and we can begin the investigation.” Said Benton.