Watch Out for This Insurance Scam

Recently, the IRS released information to tax professionals, warning them of a new insurance scam that criminals are using to fraudulently access annuity and life insurance accounts. Since educating our clients and warning them of issues that can impact them is important to us, we’re passing along this information to you.

Con artists are operating this scam in several different ways, but the basic premise is the same for all of them: They are impersonating tax professionals (and possible insurance representatives or financial advisors), and tricking people into sharing incredibly sensitive and dangerous information.

I want to preface this by saying that our email servers at Infinite Wealth Advisors are very secure and monitored on a consistent basis to prevent this from happening. Other professionals, however, may not have secure systems and this is how thieves cause havoc…

They do this by hacking into the professional’s email database, stealing client emails, and then sending very realistic-looking fake emails to their intended victims. A form is attached to these emails, and recipients are instructed to fill out and return these forms to the “professional” immediately. Of course, the replies are routed not to your trusted tax pro or advisor, but to a con artist.

If you fall victim to this scam, you’ve just handed your Social Security number and various other sensitive information to a criminal. They can then use that information to raid your accounts or otherwise cause serious financial damage.

If you receive one of these scam emails, the subject line will make the issue sound urgent. Then the body of the email will state something like the following:

Dear Life Insurance Policy Owner,
Kindly fill the form attached for your Life insurance or Annuity contract details and fax back to us for processing in order to avoid multiple (sic) tax bill (sic).

In the event that anyone emails you to request personal information, close the email immediately and do not reply to it. Call that professional, and ask them whether they requested such information from you.

If you have any questions about keeping yourself safe from financial scams, give us a call.