New in 2021! Secure your Tax Return with an IRS Protection PIN Starting this year, the IRS is now allowing people to voluntarily opt in to its Identity Protection program as a proactive way to protect yourself from tax-related identity theft. When doing so, an individual will be issued a personal PIN, which will be [...]

Beware of Fraudulent Unemployment Claims Unfortunately, fraudulent unemployment claims have dramatically increased and affected hundreds of thousands. What happens is this: imposters file unemployment claims for people who are still employed, using the victim's personal information that was either stolen or purchased on the dark web. To do your best to prevent identity and information [...]

Bank wires can be an easy and convenient way to transfer money quickly and is often used for real estate purchases and other large transactions. At the same time, wire fraud is on the rise and we want to warn against some of the things you can do to help prevent being victimized by this [...]

Nefarious fraudsters know that text messaging is used by most reputable companies as a way to verify one's identity and ensure that purchases and transactions are legitimate, so they have started using text messaging as a ploy to steal people's identity and information. For example, a scammer may send a text message saying "Suspicious Activity [...]

IRS Child Tax Credit Payments Beginning July 15th, the IRS started sending out advanced payments for the enhanced Child Tax Credit passed by Congress earlier this year. These payments are being made based on last year's tax filing. Half of the total tax payment is being paid out in monthly installments through the rest of [...]

Many government agencies repeatedly warn against scams targeting senior citizens and immigrants. Warnings come from agencies that include the IRS, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau, and others. Knowing that scammers purposefully target senior citizens and immigrants, it is important to know ways to protect yourself and those you love. [...]

Social Security includes cost-of-living (COLA) adjustments based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) so that benefits for Social Security keep pace with inflation. The official calculation for a COLA adjustment is usually released in October and is based on the average CPI-W from the 3rd quarter [...]