Gift cards have become a standard part of the modern shopping experience. But inside that colorful card kiosk could be a minefield. Here’s what you need to know before purchasing one.Gift card sales rose from $130 billion in 2015 to $173 billion in 2021, and while they are popular with consumers, they are also popular with criminals because they can be purchased anonymously and redeemed remotely.There are two typical scams involving gift cards: someone buys a gift card only to later find that it has no balance on it; and someone is instructed to purchase gift cards and share the numbers as a form of payment.
Zero-Balance Gift Cards Criminals have several ways of draining gift card balances. In fact, a 2022 AARP survey found that one in four adults said they had given or received a gift card that turned out to have no value on it.To combat these scams: •Purchase cards online directly from the business that issues them. Cards on store racks can be tampered with. •Carefully examine cards at a physical store for signs of tampering. It’s safer to buy from places that keep gift cards behind the counter or near the checkout where watchful eyes may discourage criminals. •Register your card with the retailer if that option is offered. This makes it easier to track and quickly report any issues.
Gift Card Payment ScamsGift cards as a form of payment in scams has been a popular tactic for the last five or so years. According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, reports of this fraud are down 25% in 2022 compared to the prior year. However, reported losses were roughly the same, suggesting that per-card losses were higher in 2022.Here’s what you should know: •If you are confronted by someone directing you to buy gift cards to pay for something or send money, it is a scam—full stop. •Disengage immediately and report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The reports are used to identify trends and build cases against criminals. •If you have lost money to this act of fraud, report it to your local police and insist they take your report. Some police lack awareness that scams are a crime and resist taking a report. Be persistent—it may help you recoup losses if the criminals are brought to justice down the road.
The Portland Social Security office will relocate to its new location at 312 Fore St, Portland, ME 04101, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Business operations at 1355 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04102, will end at close of business on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Social Security office hours are from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday. (read more)
According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing $2.6 billion to impostor scams in 2022. One of the longest running impostor scams involves the IRS, so tax time is a good time to draw attention to it.
How It Works• You receive a phone call, text or email that claims to be from the IRS saying you owe back taxes and must make immediate payment or face arrest.•The communication will include a request to pay your supposed obligation by wire transfer or by purchasing gift cards and sharing the numbers off the back.•Or it’s good news from the IRS: You have a refund coming to you which you can claim by clicking a link and sharing information. What You Should Know• Most IRS impostor scams begin as a robocall with the message directing you either to press a number on your keypad to talk with a live agent or to call back using the number provided.•Scammers can alter caller ID to make it appear a call is coming from anywhere they choose, even the IRS.•The real IRS initiates communication by mail, including in cases of delinquent taxes. The agency may contact you by phone only after you have received and not responded to multiple written notices.•The IRS never initiates communication by email or text.•No federal agency accepts payment for any obligation by wire transfer or gift card. In 100% of these scenarios, it is a scam. What You Should Do• If you get a call claiming to be from the IRS, hang up—or better yet, don’t pick up the call to begin with.•If you think you may owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 or visit irs.gov/balancedue.•Know that beyond IRS impostors, tax ID fraud is still a problem. Consider obtaining an IRS identity protection PIN. The IP PIN is known only to you and the IRS, and your return cannot be processed without it.
For many financial documents, just 3 years — for others, practically forever
You may be staring at a heap of paperwork when you finish filing your 2022 federal taxes, which are due April 18. Your first urge may be to sweep them all into a paper bag and put the bag under a stairwell. Don’t do that. Instead, keep only the records you need to keep. And that starts with sorting them out.
Try to stay tidy
Neat, complete, well-organized financial files speed the process of filing your tax return and can keep you from making errors. Maintaining some semblance of order after you’ve filed your return — rather than tossing it into a file cabinet or shoebox — will come in handy if the Internal Revenue Service has questions about your form.
“The biggest blunder is not being organized about what records ought to be kept,” says Neal Stern, CPA, a member of the American Institute of CPAs’ National CPA Financial Literacy Commission. “There are people who somehow believe that they should keep all of their paperwork, but they don’t think through what the important paperwork is that should be kept or how it should be kept or how it should be organized.”
People who keep too many financial papers often struggle just as much to find needed documents as those who don’t keep any files. “They end up having drawers full of old papers,” Stern says. “It’s not much better than not having the paperwork if you can’t figure out what you have and where it is.”
What to keep
For an individual tax return, you’ll need to save anything that supports the figures you entered on your return. You should keep the W-2 and 1099 forms you get from employers, for example, as well as any 1099-B or 1099-INT tax documents from banks, brokerages and other investment firms.
If you lost your job last year and received unemployment benefits from the government, be sure to keep your 1099-G form, which reports the amount you have received.
If you’re itemizing your deductions, keep receipts for these: credit card and other receipts, invoices, mileage logs and canceled checks. If you’ve bought or sold mutual fund shares, stocks or other securities, you’ll need confirmation slips (or brokerage statements) that say how much you paid for the investments and how much you received when you sold them. Keep a copy of all your investments for at least three years after you have sold them.
How long to keep it
You’ve likely heard that seven years is the perfect period to hold on to tax records, including returns. The actual time to keep records isn’t that simple, according to Steven Packer, CPA, in the Tax Accounting Group at Duane Morris.
“In most cases, tax records don’t have to be kept for seven years because there’s a three-year statute of limitations,” Packer explains. “So assuming there’s no fraud or nothing else wrong, the IRS cannot look at your tax returns beyond that three-year statute.”
The statute of limitations has some important exceptions, and if your tax return has any of these, you’ll need to keep your returns and your records longer than three years. For example, the statute of limitations is six years if you have substantially underestimated your income. The threshold for substantial understatement is 25 percent of your gross income. If you claim your gross income was $50,000 and it was really $100,000, you’ve substantially understated your income.
The six-year rule also applies if you have substantially overstated the cost of property to minimize your taxable gain. Say if you sold a piece of property for $150,000 and claimed you paid $125,000 instead of the actual $50,000, the IRS has six years to take action against you. And if you have omitted more than $5,000 in income from an offshore account, the statute of limitations is also six years.
Keep records for seven years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad-debt deduction. If you haven’t filed a return, or if you have filed a fraudulent return, there’s no statute of limitations for the IRS to seek charges against you.
“Keep a copy of the return itself,” says Henry Grzes, Lead Manager for Tax Practice & Ethics with the American Institute of CPAs. If the IRS says you didn’t file a tax return, a copy of the return itself should settle the matter.
Property records can be forever
Calculating the cost basis on property you live in is relatively simple because most people can avoid paying capital gains tax on their primary residence. If you sell your primary residence, those filing individual returns can exclude up to $250,000 in gains from taxes, and couples filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000. You must have lived in your home for at least two of the past five years to qualify for the exclusion. Even so, you’ll need to save your records of the transaction for at least three years after selling the property.
If your sale doesn’t meet the above criteria, you’ll need to keep records of significant improvements for at least three years after the sale. IRS Publication 523, “Selling Your Home,” spells out what improvements you can add to your cost basis — and reduce your capital gains bill. The same holds true for rental property.
Most brokerages will compute your cost basis for stocks, bonds and mutual funds, although they are only to calculate your cost basis for stock transactions since 2011 and mutual funds since 2012. It’s a good idea to keep all your transaction records, however, in case you change brokers. Your broker is not obligated to hold your records indefinitely. In addition, keep records of any inherited property and its value when the owner died, which will become your tax basis.
If you’re a long-term investor, you could have a long-term headache trying to find the buy ticket for a stock you bought in 2003. “When you finally sell a piece of property what you paid for it 20 years ago, like to have something to prove to the IRS [about your cost basis], says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.
There’s nothing wrong with saving your records longer than the legal limits if it gives you peace of mind and you can stand the clutter. You might consider storing some records in the cloud — remote computer storage space that you rent.
Although many people keep paper records, it’s also smart to have the documents converted to electronic files and stored in the cloud. It’s a good idea to have two sets, in case one is destroyed. Finally, remember that your state may have separate rules for keeping records; check with your accountant or state tax department.
Colorectal cancer may not cause symptoms, particularly at first. Someone can have colon cancer or rectal cancer and not know it. That’s why every person should get screened starting at age 45. People at higher risk may need to get checked earlier, according to their risk factors.
Screening (testing for colorectal cancer) is the No. 1 way you can prevent colon cancer and rectal cancer.
With screening, colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. Colon cancer and rectal cancer are also highly treatable if caught early. That’s why on-time screening is essential and lifesaving. Screening should begin at age 45.
Symptoms of colorectal cancer may include:
Changing bowel habits
Changing bowel habits may include intermittent or constant diarrhea and/or constipation, a change in the consistency of your stool, or stools that are more narrow than usual.
Persistent abdominal discomfort
Abdominal discomfort may present as cramps, gas, or pain. You may also feel full, bloated, or like your bowel is not completely empty. Nausea and vomiting can also be a symptoms.
Rectal bleeding
Blood in or on your stool is a symptom of rectal cancer and colon cancer. The blood can be bright red, or the stool may be black and tarry or brick red.
Weakness and/or fatigue
Weakness and/or fatigue may be a sign of colorectal cancer. Weakness and/or fatigure may be accompanied by anemia or a low red blood cell count.
Unexplained weight loss
A loss of weight for no known reason should always be investigated. Nausea and/or vomiting are also possible symptoms.
Each year, millions of consumers discover a disturbing truth — their personal information has been stolen. Frankly, it’s likely that all our data are out there, whether we know it or not. But all is not lost.
How It Works• In data breaches, criminals hack into the systems of banks, retailers and other companies and steal sensitive consumer data.•Phone calls, text messages, emails and social media are the playground of criminals seeking to get us to return a call or click a link and share sensitive data.•Mail — whether incoming, outgoing or the mail we toss out — is a gold mine for identity thieves. Mailboxes, recycling bins, garbage cans and dumpsters are fertile ground for picking up sensitive personal information that thieves can use themselves or sell to the highest bidder. What You Should Know• Criminals use stolen identities to open new accounts in the victims’ names, or they combine real data with fake data to create new personas and open accounts in that manner.•If they have just the right information, criminals can use your personal information to take over your existing accounts, whether or not they are financial in nature.•Stolen identities are also used to get medical treatment, file for government benefits, and file tax returns. What You Should Do• Create unique and strong passwords or passphrases for each online account. Otherwise, one password breach could equate to criminal access to all accounts. Consider investing in a password manager, such as Dashlane, Bitwarden and 1Password.•Set up online access to your financial accounts. This way you can monitor transactions and quickly recognize fraudulent activity, rather than waiting for a monthly or quarterly statement.•Set up “two-factor authentication” on every online account that offers it. This requires you to enter a passcode that you will receive by phone, text or email (or through an authenticator app) to verify it’s you.•Request your free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) at annualcreditreport.com to check for suspicious activity. Since the start of the pandemic, these agencies have offered free weekly online reports; as of this writing, the offer remains in place.•Consider placing a fraud alert on your credit. This requires creditors to verify you are the one adding new or altering existing accounts. Make sure you have the most up-to-date security and antivirus software installed on your devices.•If you find you are a victim of identity fraud, visit identitytheft.gov for a personalized recovery plan. For additional support, contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 1-877-908-3360.
Whether via a dating app or social media, meeting new friends and love interests online is more common than ever. But so is online romance fraud, through which criminals devastate tens of thousands of victims and their families every year, both financially and emotionally.
How It Works• While playing an online game, perusing social media or looking at prospective partners on dating apps or sites, up pops an appealing invitation to connect.•You accept the invitation and find yourself communicating with this new friend a lot. This friend suggests moving to another platform to continue talking.•A romantic relationship develops quickly, though they always have plausible reasons for why you never meet in person. Maybe the love interest is working abroad or serving in the military in another country.•Eventually, this love interest asks for money; sometimes the early requests are for small amounts, and they ask you to buy a gift card and share the numbers off the back. Or maybe they profess skill in investing in cryptocurrency and suggest you invest along with them. What You Should Know• The Federal Trade Commission says romance scams are second only to investment scams as the most profitable fraud on social media.•While all ages experience this crime, the median losses for people 70 and over is $9,000, compared to $750 for the 18–29 age group.•The request for money is a definite red flag, but so is a relationship that develops quickly, a request to move off the platform where you first connected and never getting to meet in person. What You Should Do• Use caution when meeting new people online; it is all too easy for criminals to pretend to be someone they are not.•Use your browser’s reverse-image search on profile pictures when you meet someone new online. If the images are connected to profiles other than who you think you are talking to, it’s a scam; report the profile to the platform where you met.•Talk with family and friends when you meet new people online to check your own emotional connection to this person—they have the benefit of seeing suspicious signs that emotion may blind you to.•
Take these tips with you to become a smarter consumer and avoid fraud:
Know who you’re dealing with. In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.
Pay the safest way. Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.
Guard your personal information. Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.
Stay safe online. Don’t send sensitive information such as credit card numbers by email because it’s not secure. Look for clues about security on Web sites. At the point where you are asked to provide your financial or other sensitive information, the letters at the beginning of the address bar at the top of the screen should change from “http” to “https” or “shttp.” Your browser may also show that the information is being encrypted, or scrambled, so no one who might intercept it can read it. But while your information may be safe in transmission, that’s no guarantee that the company will store it securely. See what Web sites say about how your information is safeguarded in storage.
Be cautious about unsolicited emails. They are often fraudulent. If you are familiar with the company or charity that sent you the email and you don’t want to receive further messages, send a reply asking to be removed from the email list. However, responding to unknown senders may simply verify that yours is a working email address and result in even more unwanted messages from strangers. The best approach may simply be to delete the email.
Resist pressure. Legitimate companies and charities will be happy to give you time to make a decision. It’s probably a scam if they demand that you act immediately or won’t take “No” for an answer. Some scammers may also demand you pay off a loan immediately or damaging consequences may occur, always take time to look into who is requesting the money before you pay up.
Don’t believe promises of easy money. If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.
Fully understand the offer. A legitimate seller will give you all the details about the products or services, the total price, the delivery time, the refund and cancellation policies, and the terms of any warranty. Contact the seller if any of these details are missing, if they are unable to provide the details, it may be a sign that it’s a scam.
Get off credit marketing lists. Credit bureaus compile marketing lists for pre-approved offers of credit. These mailings are a goldmine for identity thieves, who may steal them and apply for credit in your name. Get off these mailing lists by calling 888-567-8688 (your social security number will be required to verify your identity). Removing yourself from these lists does not hurt your chances of applying for or getting credit.
Check your credit reports regularly. If you find accounts that don’t belong to you or other incorrect information, follow the instructions for disputing those items. You can ask for free copies of your credit reports in certain situations. If you were denied credit because of information in a credit report, you can ask the credit bureau that the report came from for a free copy of your file. And if you are the victim of identity theft, you can ask all three of the major credit bureaus for free copies of your reports. Contact the credit bureaus at: Equifax, 800-685-111; Experian, 800-311-4769; TransUnion, 800-888-4213.
Everyone can request free copies of their credit reports once a year. In addition to the rights described above, a new federal law entitles all consumers to ask each of the three major credit bureaus for free copies of their reports once in every 12-month period. Go to www.ftc.gov/credit or call 877-382-4357 for more details and to see when you can make your requests. You don’t have to ask all three credit bureaus for your reports at the same time; you can stagger your requests if you prefer. Do not contact the credit bureaus directly for these free annual reports. They are only available by calling 877-322-8228 or going to www.annualcreditreport.com. You can make your requests by phone or online, or download a form to mail your requests.
Be cautious about offers for credit monitoring services. Why pay extra for them when you can get your credit reports for free or very cheap? Read the description of the services carefully. Unless you’re a victim of serious and ongoing identity theft, buying a service that alerts you to certain activities in your credit files probably isn’t worthwhile, especially if it costs hundreds of dollars a year. You can purchase copies of your credit reports anytime for about $9 through the bureaus’ Web sites or by phone: Equifax, 800-685-111; Experian, 800-311-4769; TransUnion, 800-888-4213.
As tax filing season rolls on, be on the lookout for the IRS imposter scam. You get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, saying you owe a specific amount in taxes, and may threaten to arrest you if you don’t pay immediately. Know the IRS will never call and demand immediate payment without first sending a notice through the mail. Nor will the IRS ever ask for credit or debit cards over the phone, or threaten you with arrest. If you get a call like this, hang up. If you are concerned that you may owe taxes, call the IRS directly at 800-829-1040.
File your taxes early to beat the cons
It’s tax season which means that scammers want your refund! When you file your taxes, keep your Social Security number safe. Don’t put sensitive documents in your mailbox or leave them unattended in your car. If you file online, use a secure site and don’t transmit sensitive info via wifi, particularly in a public place. Have all your tax documents? File early to beat the cons.
We humans are generally helpful by nature, and this tendency is something criminals often seek to manipulate, whether it’s a sham tug-at-your-heartstrings charity, a fake crisis of a loved one or now the “Can you do me a favor?” scam. The latter typically involves criminals posing as bosses, friends, family members or even a local faith leader. But they all have one thing in common—a request for gift cards.
How It Works• You receive a brief but urgent message from someone you know asking for a quick favor—run to the store and pick up some gift cards, and they’ll reimburse you later.•The message can come by email, text or social media, and the sender claims to be traveling or is otherwise tied up.•The ask may come from a supervisor at work who needs the gift cards for an employee appreciation event, a faith leader who is looking to quickly help a family in need, or a family member or friend.•The request is for specific gift cards and a specific amount, and they ask you to snap photos of the front and back (exposing the PIN) and send the pictures. What You Should Know• Gift cards are attractive to criminals—they are everywhere, aren’t generally trackable and can be converted to cash in an instant.•Anytime someone asks you to buy gift cards and share the numbers off the back, it’s a scam—full stop. What You Should Do• Verify. If you get a message like this, contact the person in a way you know to be legitimate and ask them if they sent it.•If you buy gift cards only to later learn it was part of a scam, contact the retailer or card issuer immediately. If the funds weren’t drained in full, you may be able to get some of your money back.•Remember that all scams are crimes. If you ever experience financial loss from a scam, contact the police to file a report. If you get resistance, persist so you have a formal record in the event of possible future restitution.
The Portland Social Security office will relocate to its new location at 312 Fore St, Portland, ME 04101, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Business operations at 1355 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04102, will end at close of business on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Social Security office hours are from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday. 