May 2, 2014

Tax Identity Theft Scam Targets Physicians Nationwide

This week, staff of the Arizona Medical Association (ArMA) met with Arizona FBI and IRS agents about an IRS tax scam directed at physicians and other healthcare providers. The FBI is working on identifying how the intrusion occurred, and the IRS is working to identify perpetrators through the financials process. The breech has also triggered engagement of the United States Secret Service so three key agencies are now involved.

According to reports, fraudulent federal income tax returns using physician names, addresses and Social Security numbers are being filed electronically. IRS officials believe this scam is an attempt to fraudulently collect tax refunds through a sophisticated electronic redirection of refunds to fraudulent bank accounts that can then be accessed by the perpetrators. Victims are unaware of the identity theft until they attempt to file their taxes electronically, at which time they discover that a return has already been filed under their Social Security number. The IRS is sending 5071C letters to suspected fraud victims with instructions to contact the IRS identity theft website or call the IRS at (800) 830-5084.

At this time, the Secret Service is encouraging physicians to go to

www.experian.com/fraud and place themselves on a 90-day credit fraud alert. This could potentially slow or halt further attempted identity theft activities. This is only suggested out of an abundance of caution - there is no reason to believe that every physician is at risk.

We understand that Experian will feed this information and fraud alerts to the other two major credit reporting agencies. If you remain concerned, it is suggested that you go back onto www.experian.com/fraud after 89 days to initiate subsequent 90-day credit fraud alerts. If you are NOT affected, the IRS agent contact does not recommend filing paper returns. In fact, it is considered best to file electronically as early as possible so as to prevent the bad guys from getting there first.

If you are a victim of this scam, please notify Chic Older, EVP, ArMA, by emailing him with your full name, home address and phone number. The agencies involved have asked ArMA to provide them with known victims so please let Mr. Older know in your email that you authorize release of your contact information, including email address.

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