You may have been informed that you qualify for a special tax rebate. This is always welcome news, except in cases of a tax rebate scam. Unfortunately, many people do not detect the difference between a real announcement for a tax rebate and a fake one

Emails and texts are designed to resemble government communication. If you have lost money in a tax rebate scam, experts at Scam Survivor can track down the fraudulent parties and get your money back. 

There have always been fraudulent activities that claim they will help people get a tax rebate, but the numbers have increased since the COVID-19 have hit every area in the world. For example, the City of London police reported a 400% increase in fraudulent activity since the beginning of the pandemic. As governments across the world provide stimulus checks and tax rebates, scammers are innovative new ways to intercept these funds. 

Some tax rebate scams take the money directly through identity theft and pretend to be the victim. Others using phishing tactics to convince the person to hand over information that will enable them to perpetuate the fraud. The tragic aspect of these frauds is that they often affect people who need money the most and would spend them on necessities like food or rent. 

Unscrupulous parties perpetrate tax rebate scams through the following means: 

• Email 
• Social media
• Text messages
• Phone calls

The trick to many of these schemes is to get the person to provide information willingly by making them believe they are communicating directly with a government office. The target may receive an email stating that they qualify for a tax rebate. Government departments have made it known that they do not communicate this way and have urged people to treat any such communication as suspicious. However, too many people are unaware of this. 

The email or text will provide a link. The person will click the link and enter personal information. Once this data has been provided, the scammer can then steal the tax rebate and pretend to be the user. It is useful to remember that government agencies do not notify people through these kinds of texts and emails, and any of these communications should be recognized immediately as fake. 

The phone is also a tool for phishing scams. The targets are mainly the elderly who are averse to entering data on the internet or are not well-versed in technology. Once the scammer convinces the recipient of the call that they are from a government agency, they ask for personal data which they use to claim the rebate for themselves. 

The Problem of Identity Theft

The problem is even greater when the fraudulent party goes beyond getting some personal information and perpetrates full-scale identity theft. The victim can be completely blindsided by the fraud and may find out only when they try to fill out their tax return and discover that it has already been filled out, and the rebate has been sent to another account. This is a complex problem that requires professionals to help untangle. 

Have You Been the Target of a Tax Rebate Scam? Contact Scam Survivor

If someone has absconded with your tax rebate, it is essential to act fast. Scam artists move quickly and use several identities. Tracking them down is a challenge, but Scam Survivor experts have advanced knowledge, experience, and tools to unmask scammers and retrieve funds. 

Consult Scam Survivor professionals and get your money back from tax rebate scams today.