Have you heard about IRS Imposter Scams?

Here’s how they work:

You get a call from someone who says she’s from the IRS. She says that you owe back taxes. She threatens to sue you, arrest or deport you, or revoke your license if you don’t pay right away. She tells you to put money on a prepaid debit card and give her the card numbers.

The caller may know some of your Social Security number. And your called ID might show a Washington, DC area code. But is it really the IRS calling?

No. The real IRS won’t ask you to pay with prepaid debit cards or wire transfers. They also won’t ask for a credit card over the phone. And when the IRS first contacts you about unpaid taxes, they do it by mail, not by phone. And caller IDs can be faked.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Stop. Don’t wire money or pay with a prepaid debit card. Once you send it, the money is gone. If you have tax questions, go to irs.gov or call the IRS at 800-829-1040.
2.  Pass this information on to a friend. You may not have gotten one of these calls, but the chances are you know someone who has.

Please report scams.

If you spot a scam, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

• Call the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or TTY 1-866-653-4261
• Go online: ftc.gov/complaint

Your complaint can help protect other people. By filing a complaint, you can help the FTC’s investigators identify the imposters and stop them before they can get someone’s hard-earned money. It really makes a difference.

Want to know more? Sign up for scam alerts at ftc.gov/subscribe

 

Northeast Community Credit Union presented a $500 donation to the United Way of Elizabethton/Carter County and Johnson County as part of their annual partnership with the non-profit agency.

The United Way relies on community donations to provide assistance to thousands of individuals through partnerships with other non-profit community organizations.

These partnerships include Boys and Girls Club of Elizabethton/Carter County, Assistance and Resources Ministries, Elizabethton Senior Citizens Center, 211 Contact Ministries, Adult Day Services, American Red Cross, Elizabethton Neighborhood Service Center, Personal Support Services, and the Boy Scouts Sequoyah Council.

United Way Director Crystal Carter said it was community efforts that kept the United Way campaign on track. NCCU’s donation will be used to help fund literacy projects sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club of Elizabethton/Carter County in the United Way of Elizabethton/Carter County and Johnson County service area.

To donate to United Way or for more information, call 423-543-6975 or email, director@uwayecc.org

Northeast Community Credit Union has been serving the community since October 1952 when it was chartered as a credit union by the State of Tennessee. Northeast Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. It is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Carter, Johnson, Washington, Unicoi and Sullivan counties along with their immediate family members.

Katarina Finney, fifth grade teacher at Mountain City Elementary, is the latest Northeast Community Credit Union Helping Teacher’s Teach winner.

Finney applied for the Helping Teachers Teach grant to help promote fifth-grade science. The award will be split between STEM activities for classes, new flexible seating options and literature promoting science education.

“This project will enhance the learning experience of my students by making science more engaging and hands-on,” Finney said. “I believe it will promote higher student motivation and better work quality.”

The new year is giving scammers an easy way to forge documents, but you can protect yourself with an easy New Year’s resolution: Stop abbreviating the year.

Why? This year’s abbreviation is easily changeable and could be used against you. The concern is that scammers could easily manipulate a document dated “1/1/20” into “1/1/2000” or even “1/1/2021.”

Writing out the full date “could possibly protect you and prevent legal issues on paperwork,” according to Hamilton County, Ohio, Auditor Dusty Rhodes.

While it’s early in the year for examples of this kind of fraud to emerge, the threat is real according to Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

In a message emailed to USA TODAY Thursday, Rheingold said scammers could use the method to establish an unpaid debt or to attempt to cash an old check.

“Say you agreed to make payments beginning on 1/15/20. The bad guy could theoretically establish that you began owing your obligation on 1/15/2019, and try to collect additional $$$,” Rheingold wrote.

In the future, post-dating could be a problem too. For example, a check dated “1/1/20” could become “1/1/2021” next year, possibly making the uncashed check active again, Rheingold wrote. A similar method could be used for debts that are past the statute of limits.

The solution is easy: There’s no harm in writing the full date. Writing the month out can also help.

Write this: January 15, 2020. Not this: 1/15/20.

–Article originally published on USAToday.com