Scams on the rise this holiday season. Know how to protect your data

(WJET/WFXP/ YourErie.com ) — With more shoppers heading to online stores for holiday gift buying, officials are making it known to protect your information and watch out for scammers to avoid any unwanted and unwelcome data breaches.

Cyber Monday is in full swing and in honor of the online savings coupled with potential scams, the Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry – working together as the Security Summit – kicked off the 8th National Tax Security Awareness Week with tips for taxpayers and tax professionals.

“As the holidays and tax season approach, this special week highlights that we are entering a period where taxpayers need to be extra careful protecting their sensitive financial and personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.

Since 2015, the IRS and the Security Summit have use the week to raise awareness and protect personal, sensitive information while shopping online or checking emails and texts, especially during the holiday season when criminals are active.

“Identity thieves are looking for ways to play the Grinch and steal taxpayer information that can help them steal identities and file fraudulent tax returns. The IRS and the Security Summit continue to work to strengthen our internal systems, but taxpayers and tax professionals form a critical first line of defense against identity thieves by securing their tax and financial information,” Werfel added.

During this week, the Security Summit focuses on ways that taxpayers and tax professionals can protect themselves from evolving scams and schemes designed to steal personal, financial and tax information.

Through this, they’re reminding everyone to stay safe during both the holiday and tax season with these tips:

Shop at sites where the web address begins with “https” – the “s” is for secure communications and look for the padlock icon in the browser window.

Don’t shop on unsecured public Wi-Fi in places like a mall or restaurant.

Keep security software for computers, tablets and mobile phones updated.

Protect the devices of family members, including young children, older adults as well as less technologically savvy users.

Make sure anti-virus software for computers has a feature to stop malware, and that there is a firewall enabled that can prevent intrusions.

Use strong and unique passwords for online accounts.

Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible. It helps prevent thieves from easily hacking accounts. The IRS also reminds the tax community that the Federal Trade Commission this summer updated their standards and now requires tax professionals to use multi-factor authentication to protect information.

Get daily updates on local news, weather and sports by signing up for the WTAJ Newslette r

Additional information on protecting your data from scammers is available here.