IRS Invites KCAL to Host a Webinar on the 5th National Tax Security Awareness Week
by KCALNewsroom
The Fifth Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week was from November 30 to December 4. To spread the word to the Chinese community, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) invited KCAL Insurance Agency and Sino-American CPAs Association (SACPAA) to cohost a webinar on December 3 at 2pm.
Guest speakers invited to speak at this webinar included Congresswoman Judy Chu, CA-27, Director of the C&L Stakeholder Liaison at the IRS Derek Ganter, Supervisory Special Agent of the IRS Criminal Investigation Erik Bodden, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration Los Angeles District Office Ben Raju, Regional Director of the Federal Trade Commission Western Region Los Angeles Maricela Segura, Supervising Investigator of the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Janet Godoy, CPA Johnny Shih from the Sino American CPA Association, and President of KCAL Insurance Agency Kenny Chang.
With the 2021 tax filing season approaching, the IRS hoped to spread awareness of the importance of tax security to prevent identity theft and tax fraud.
Topics discussed in the webinar included common tips in identifying identity theft and phishing, how to set strong and effective passwords, how companies can protect themselves from cyber attacks and data theft, and information security protection for tax professionals. They also provided numerous government resources (opens in new tab) that are available for individuals, employers, and even tax professionals to use.
Congresswoman Judy Chu stated that it’s important to hold events like these to spread awareness to the public. The pandemic has caused not only a public health crisis but also a financial one, which opens up the opportunity for more tax fraud to occur. Congress is working hard to help individuals and businesses through a variety of methods such as the $1200 stimulus check, PPP funds, and especially hosting these webinars to help everyone learn how to protect themselves from tax fraud. Government agencies such as the IRS and the SSA will never ask you for personal information or require you to provide it. It’s also important to create a strong password and to use two-factor authorization. Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links, make sure to properly store tax documents, and choose trusted tax professionals. The IRS is also working hard to provide multilingual assistance and services to eliminate the potential issues caused by language barriers.
Judy Chu, Congressmember, CA-27 Derek Ganter, Director, C&L Stakeholder Liaison, IRS
Derek Ganter, Director of C&L Stakeholder Liaison of the IRS, stated that personal information leakage during the shopping season is a serious issue every year. Erik Bodden, Supervisory Special Agent of the IRS Criminal Investigation, mentioned that criminals are skilled at using high-tech to conduct cross-border cyber crimes such as the dark web and bitcoin transactions which make it more difficult to find and recover money.
To better protect taxpayers’ personal information, the IRS will implement an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) which is a six-digit number that helps the IRS verify a taxpayer’s identity and prevents someone else from filing a tax return with their SSN. Starting in mid-January 2021, all taxpayers who can verify their identities may obtain an IP PIN to protect their tax returns. It is a one-time registration process and a new IP PIN will be issued every year.
Click here to learn more about the IP PIN (opens in new tab)
Janet Godoy, Supervising Investigator, LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Ben Raju, District Director, Los Angeles District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration Maricela Segura, Regional Director, Western Region Los Angeles, Federal Trade Commission
Janet Godoy, Supervising Investigator of the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, mentioned that if you suspect that your identity has been stolen, you should obtain a credit history report as soon as possible to check whether you have an account that does not belong to you. Ben Raju, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration Los Angeles District Office explained how businesses can handle identity theft and what resources and assistance the SBA can provide.
Maricela Segura, Regional Director of the Federal Trade Commission Western Region Los Angeles, provided safety tips and practical information on how to prevent personal information from leaking. She reminded the taxpayers to make sure to use an encrypted website which means the address should have “https” in it, and to log out of your account before closing your browser. If you receive any automated calls claiming they are from the IRS, Chinese Embassy, or other government agencies, don’t respond, and it’d be best to not pick up the call at all. If you receive a call from your employer to make the payment, make sure to verify their identity first.
Now that it’s shopping season, consumers have to be extra careful! The new and popular method used by criminals is to pretend to be employees of large, well-known companies such as Amazon or Apple and send emails or text messages that contain links to phishing websites. The message might show a link to a location that shows that the package has been delivered somewhere but it’s actually a link to a scam website. If you need to check the status of your package, you can go directly to the company’s website and find the tracking number. To learn more about how to deal with and report identity theft, you can find more information on http://www.identitytheft.gov/ (opens in new tab) and report fraud through https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ (opens in new tab).
Johnny Shih, CPA, Sino American CPA Association Kenny Chang, President, KCAL Insurance Agency Erik Bodden, Supervisory Special Agent, IRS Criminal Investigation
Johnny Shih, CPA, mentioned that the Sino American CPA Association (SACPAA) has been invited by the IRS for the fifth consecutive year to co-host this beneficial event with local and federal government agencies. He reminded the public of several basic security steps when filing taxes and to file taxes as soon as possible to prevent criminals from taking advantage of them.
Kenny Chang, President of KCAL Insurance Agency, also reminded everyone to be aware of their personal information, especially during the holidays. Since it is also currently Open Enrollment Period for health insurance in California and you’ll need to submit important personal information such as social security numbers, residential address, etc., when applying for health insurance, it’s important to choose a trusted and certified insurance broker to prevent data leakage.
The IRS also reminds the public that they will never ask anyone to make payments over the phone. They will never use going to jail or filing a lawsuit to threaten taxpayers to make payments. The IRS will never request any personal or financial information from taxpayers over email or any other type of electronic communication, nor will they require you to provide login credentials, social security numbers, or any other sensitive information.
The IRS has created a YouTube video on how taxpayers can take steps to stay safe. You can find more information on the official IRS website http://www.irs.gov. (opens in new tab)