Identity Stimulus

With the current panic over the global economic climate, many governments are protect their countries through any means possible; especially ones that might preserve their popularity. Thus, many leaders are experimenting with one-time cash payouts that they hope will be recycled through the economy.

Whatever your position on these national windfalls, one thing is for certain: taxpayers aren’t the only ones celebrating. Identity frauds have long perfected the art of posing as banks and financial institutions in the hope of filching unsuspecting peoples’ bank details, and sometimes much more. Add in the prospect of the tax departments planning to pay out to huge swathes of the population in one go, and you get a situation almost custom-made for those skilled at preying on the desperate and naive.

So as you await the good news from your tax department, what can you do to minimise the risk of your most important details falling into the wrong hands?

Essentially, the principle is the same as with any online scam – be extremely careful of what you read and very selective to whom you give your banking/credit card details (If anyone), and restrict your online transactions to well established and easily verifiable sites (Such as Amazon)

This is especially true in an environment like this, where people are expecting good news from an official body; let’s face it, it’s not something that happens very often and people’s excitement means easy money for fraudulent internet operators and phishing scams. Mistrust ANY email asking you to provide your personal information, especially if the reasoning given within the email is vague, or even non-existent. Do a quick internet search for information on the claimed company in the email before even considering replying (Something that is not always advisable in and of itself lest you ‘activate’ your email address for more numerous and severe spam), and if you do reply make it very clear you want the sender’s name and contact details before you consider sending anything.

Any evasiveness or reluctance to comply on the sender’s part should be treated with complete suspicion; report them to your country’s Consumer Affairs department and, if they are posing as well-known and/or official bodies (Such as a major bank or the tax department), notify the real organizations immediately.

Of course, when it comes to Stimulus Time the main principle is far simpler: ignore ANY email or post (Or for that matter any purely electronic means of communication, including SMS) claiming to be from the tax office. If there’s one thing the world’s governmental departments have in common, is that they almost exclusively contact people via posted hard copy, especially in matters involving money. Never assume that would change.

After all, since when have government departments keen to try out new ideas? The answer is, of course, never, and particularly distrust anything that suggests differently at a time when money is meant to be changing hands. Identity frauds rely on the importance of money to people, and their naivety about how technology can affect how it’s dealt; be vigilant, and don’t let these people who aim to capitalise on people’s excitement and concerns, catch you unawares!