John Hewat of Canberra, Australia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockers_in_modern_change_room.JPG

Identity Theft from Credit Cards Stolen Out of a Gym Locker — That the Victim Said Was Locked

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A man told Darien police that he believed several of his credit cards were stolen from his wallet while it was locked in a locker at the Equinox gym at 72 Heights Road. Here’s what police said they were told:

The man locked his belongings in the locker of the gym at about 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. After working out, he returned to his locker, unlocked it and left with his belongings. Not long afterward, he received a fraud alert from one of the issuers of his credit cards.

IRS Logo 03-19-17

Darien Resident a Victim of Latest Identity Theft Related to an IRS Tax Scam

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The Internal Revenue Service notified a 55-year-0ld Darien woman recently that a tax return for 2016 had been filed in her name. The only problem was that she hadn’t filed it yet. When she contacted the IRS to tell them that, they told her to file a report with local police, which she did last week. Scammers have been filing bogus tax returns in the name of people whose identifying information they’ve stolen in order to get tax refunds sent to them. The victim is not only the federal government but also the person whose identity has been stolen: It takes the IRS a while to straighten out the matter, and taxpayers could themselves be waiting for a refund.

Police Winter

Darien Residents Report Attempted IRS Tax Scams with Stolen Identities

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So far, this year’s tax fraud cases involving Darien residents aren’t as successful for the thieves, according to what Darien police were told. Twice this month in separate cases, the IRS notified town residents about communications involving their tax returns that the town residents had never sent. In neither case was the tax fraud successful, but they each show that information on the residents was being used by someone. Here’s what Darien police were told earlier this month about two unrelated incidents:

A husband and wife both got letters from the IRS saying someone had asked the government agency for their tax returns for the past three years and had power-of-attorney forms.

The couple’s accountant in Iowa told them that his IRS file was hacked. In the other case, a Darien woman received a letter from the IRS telling her that her tax return had been rejected.

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Income Tax-Related Identity Theft Scams Down But Not Out: How to Protect Yourself

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The good news is that ID theft scams are less prevalent than they were in previous years. The bad news is that there’s plenty still around. Both the Internal Revenue Service and Better Business Bureau have (overlapping) advice about protecting yourself from scammers who want your personal information for identity theft and tax fraud. “Everyone should guard their personal information by protecting their computers and using extreme caution when viewing emails or getting surprise phone calls,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “We also encourage people to share this information with their friends and family,” he said.