Tax Preparation Scam

Austin Telco has been notified by the Credit Union National Association of a new scam on consumers. Consumers are being drawn in by individuals claiming to be tax preparers. They provide their personal information (i.e., name, social security number, etc.) to have tax refund completed and the phony tax preparer inflates the information as much as possible with fraudulent information (i.e., claiming children they don’t have day care expenses, etc. to obtain a larger refund). The tax refunds are transmitted as a direct deposit (ACH credit) to either a newly created account or an existing account with an impersonator added as a joint owner.  These accounts are being established by either the impersonator or their recruiters. Once the tax refund has been deposited into this account, the impersonator or recruiter withdraws their fee and the remainder of the ACH credit goes to the tax recipient.