IRS warns of a new tax bill scam

November 17, 2016 by Seena Gressin

Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC

We certainly understand if the latest IRS imposter scam makes you queasy: it involves a fake IRS tax notice that claims you owe money as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
The IRS says the fake notices are designed to look like real IRS CP2000 notices, which the agency sends if information it receives about your income doesn’t match the information reported on your tax return. The IRS says many people have gotten the bogus notices, which usually claim you owe money for the previous tax year under the Affordable Care Act.
It’s one of many IRS imposter scams that have popped up. As tax season nears, we’ll see more. The good news? There are red-flag warnings that can help you avoid becoming a victim. For example, the IRS will never:

Initiate contact with you by email or through social media.
Ask you to pay using a gift card, pre-paid debit card, or wire transfer.
Request personal or financial information by email, texts, or social media.
Threaten to immediately have you arrested or deported for not paying.

In the new scam, the fake CP2000 notices often arrive as an attachment to an email — a red-flag — or by U.S. mail. Other telltale signs of this fraud:

There may be a “payment” link within the email. Scam emails can link you to sites that steal your personal information, take your money, or infect your computer with malware. Don’t click on the link.
The notices request that a check be made out to “I.R.S.” Real CP2000s ask taxpayers to make their checks out to “United States Treasury” if they agree they owe taxes.

In the version we saw, a payment voucher refers to letter number LTR0105C, and requests that checks be sent to the “Austin Processing Center” in Texas. But scammers are crafty. They could send messages with a variety of return addresses.

You can see an image of a real CP2000 notice on the IRS web page, Understanding Your CP2000 Notice. If you get a scam IRS notice, forward it to phishing@irs.gov and then delete it from your email account.

Let the FTC know too.

MI Dept of Education and Civil Rights - Addressing the issue of "Hate Speech" and resources

November 15, 2016

A Letter from State Superintendent Brian Whiston

and Michigan Department of Civil Rights Director Agustin Arbulu
Now is a time when all of us need to stand together. Every administrator, teacher, staff member, parent, guardian, bus driver and student must stand as one in condemning intolerable conduct regardless of message or motivation.

We are concerned that students and parents may be hearing mixed messages. Each of us must clearly and consistently convey the message that bullying, harassment, violence, property destruction or any other form of intimidation have no place in our schools. It does not matter who is engaging in the intimidation, which student is being targeted, or what the reason is for the intimidation. There are no legitimate reasons and there are no acceptable excuses. The behavior is wrong, and the behavior will not be tolerated.

Each of us has a responsibility to ensure that every teacher, every staff member and every parent/guardian does what they can to make certain that every student hears this message, and understands that the message is shared by everyone. Waiting for an incident to occur or for a complaint to be filed is not acceptable. Appropriate strategies include:

 Review, revise, and if necessary, redistribute your harassment/bullying policies. Outside events may have increased the number of incidents, but the behavior is not new. It should in no way be minimized or taken less seriously based on outside events.

 Monitor attendance.

 Encourage dialogue and open communication.

 Ensure staff knows the signs of anxiety and trauma, observes students for the signs, and knows what to do if signs are detected.

 Ensure staff and student access to trained counselors and support services either in one-on-one settings or in groups.

 Monitor extracurricular events, be aware of social media, and identify concerns raised by students involving outside parties, threats, harassment or intimidation.

 Continue to promote positive learning environments through programs such as PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports), and comprehensive bullying programs.

 Promote restorative justice practices and utilize alternatives to Suspensions and Expulsions.

Page 2 November 15, 2016
Remember that there is no quick fix, no one speaker, or one shot program to address complex issues. Success requires consistent messaging regarding expectations, sound policies, and having evidence-based programs in place that meet the need and are consistently implemented.

We do not intend this letter to suggest that diversity awareness, dispute resolution, cultural competency and other such programs are not important. We encourage you to foster inclusion through the expansion of such programs. However, these programs cannot be effective unless they are presented in a place where students feel safe and welcome. We have included some links below that you may consider incorporating into your future work. Current events, however, demand that we first ensure that students know that an attack on any student is an attack on all of us, and will be met with a swift and decisive response.

We can work through any other issues in time, but we must immediately make our schools a safe place -- where every student is made to feel welcome.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
 For support in PBIS, the Promoting Positive School Climate (PPSC) project information is at - https://miblsi.org/application#promoting-positive-school-climate-ppsc or www.pbis.org

 OK2Say reporting – text 652729 (OK2SAY) or through the website at www.ok2say.com

 For local support and resources, Every Michigan School District is served by a regional school health coordinator - mishca.org.

o These regional school health coordinators support training and implementation of the comprehensive K-12 health curriculum Michigan Model for Health - www.mmhclearinghouse.org

 Regular surveying students to understand the environment through school climate surveys and student health behavior surveys such as the MiPHY (www.michigan.gov/miphy).

 Alternatives to Suspensions and Expulsions Toolkit and http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-74638_72831---,00.html and online restorative justice practice modules http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-74638_72831-358881--,00.html

 Michigan State Board of Education Resolution on Use of American Indian Mascots, Nicknames, and Logos: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Mascots_330690_7.

*Click the link for the PR and more details.

MI Dept. of Education PR, 11/15/16