Town of Dover Police Department
For immediate release:
DOVER, MA – April 15th is Tax Day in the United States, and as this year’s tax season comes to a close, the Dover Police Department has collected more than 15 reports from Dover residents about experiencing tax return fraud. Many of the victims filed their forms as usual, only to be contacted by the IRS (by mail, the IRS never initiates contact via the telephone) and were told that a return had already been filed in their name.
Identity theft is a multi-billion dollar enterprise annually for thieves, and every single one of us is a potential victim. The current IRS scam has become so widespread, the FBI has released an alert about it: Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Tax Return Fraud.
Residents are cautioned to be diligent with their financial affairs; to properly destroy any discarded information containing sensitive information; monitor your credit report on a regular basis to detect irregularities; and never respond to an unfamiliar email or telephone request asking for personal information.
If you think you have been a tax fraud victim:
- Report it to police
- If you received a Green Dot prepaid card, call them at 866-795-7597; do not activate the card
- If you have not filed your 2014 federal tax return, call the ID Identity Theft Hotline at 800-908-4490
- Notify all of your financial institutions
- Credit agencies to contact for a fraud report are
- Equifax: 800-525-6285;
- Experian: 888-397-3742;
- TransUnion: 800-680-7289
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission on their website at www.ftc.gov/idtheft, or call 877-438-4338
- To report state tax fraud, evasion or identity theft, call the MA Attorney General’s Fraud and Financial Crimes Division at 617-963-2223.
You can find additional fraud tips at fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud.
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Media inquiries may be directed to DPD Media Services. Please do not contact the Emergency Communications Center directly on this matter.
