According to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2015 Identity Fraud Study, 12.7 million people were victims of identity theft last year, at a cost of $16 billion. It’s tax season and criminals sees this as another opportunity to take advantage of your personal information. Don’t become the next victim.

Scammers leverage every means at their disposal to separate you from your money, your identity, or anything else of value they can get. They may offer seemingly legitimate “tax services” designed to steal your identity and your tax refund, sometimes with the lure of bigger write-offs or refunds. Scams may include mocked up websites and tax forms that look like they belong to the IRS to trick you into providing your personal information.

Phishing, in which scammers send bogus e-mail or set up phony websites appearing to be a legitimate government associations to dupe people.

During the tax season, a phishing e-mail or text might offer a bigger refund for a quick response, claim that your tax return is missing important information pay stubs and tax statement, or threaten an audit. The goal is to persuade you to reveal personal information, which will be used to steal your identity. Then the phishers can claim tax refunds on fraudulent tax returns.

Alternately, the victim gets an email claiming to be from the IRS – often with a realistic-looking sender address – stating that the consumer is due a refund and needs to click on a link and enter their personal financial information in order to have it processed.

The IRS and your other government income agencies if you’re not from the US, does not initiate taxpayer communications through email. If you have received such emails, report immediately!

Tax-related ID theft

Identity thieves have also increasingly sought to profit from their scams by filing fraudulent tax returns. According to the Federal Trade Commission Tax or wage-related fraud has also been the fastest-growing way that identity thieves misuse victims’ information since 2009. In 2011, the IRS’ Taxpayer Advocate Service received more than 34,000 tax identity theft cases, a 97 percent increase over 2010.

One of the more insidious dangers of this type of ID theft is that consumers may not become aware of it until they receive a note from their accountant or the IRS itself stating that their personal information has been misused (often to steal tax refunds or to apply for jobs).

While there is no fool-proof way to protect your identity, the IRS recommends several steps:

1. Don’t carry your Social Security card or other information with your Social Security number (SSN) with you;

2. Don’t give businesses your SSN just because they ask for it. Give it only when required;

3. Check your credit report every 12 months and challenge unusual activity;

4. Keep personal information in your home secure;

5. Protect your personal computer with firewalls, anti-virus software, security patches and change your passwords regularly;

6. Don’t give out personal information over the phone, mail or the Internet unless you know who you’re dealing with.