The Internal Revenue Service has been warning taxpayers to watch out for phony websites and emails looking to steal personal information. The was a big spike in these “Phishing” schemes this last tax season, plus the IRS has seen email scams targeting tax and payroll professionals as well as human resources personnel and schools in addition to average taxpayers. In these scams, criminals pose as a person or organization the taxpayer trusts or recognizes, such as a bank, credit card company, tax software provider or government agency. There are websites that appear legit but have fake login pages so that victims will provide passwords, social security number s and other information that can be used for identity theft directly or can be sold to other criminals to use. Some of the scams are increasingly targeting tax professionals in an attempt to access their cleint list of personal and financial data. These phony emails and websites can also infect the victim’s computer with malware, giving the criminal access to the device so they can find sensitive information as well as track keyboard strokes, allowing access to login information. Just remember that Government Agencies don’t communicate by email but by certified mail. [...]
Musings of a Burbank CPA: Presidents Born and Dying on the Fourth of July
In this Independence Day celebration blog I want to talk about the United States Presidents who were either born or died on the 4th of July. So which Presidents have been born on the 4th of July? The only one is Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, who was born on July 4, 1872. He was Vice President to Warren G. Harding, who won the 1920 Presidential Election, until 1923, when Harding died of a heart attack and made Coolidge President; he won the 1924 Presidential Election but only served one term before choosing not to run in 1928. Coolidge ironically also died of a heart attack on January 5, 1933 at the age of 60. There were three Presidents who died on the 4th of July. James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States, won the 1816 and 1820 Presidential Elections and served two terms as President. He was the last of the Founding Fathers to serve as President. He died on July 4, 1831 in New York City at the age of 73. Now we come to the strange case of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the 2nd and 3rd Presidents of the United States. They were [...]
Musings of a Burbank CPA: CPAs Say Security is Their No. 1 Technology-Related Priority
This survey of over 3,300 accounting professionals begs the question of the number one technology concern today. You can see more information at the link below in AccountingWeb by Jason Bramwell: http://www.accountingweb.com/article/cpas-say-security-their-no-1-technology-related-priority/224630?utm_campaign=Daily+Clips&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=17234539&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9g0ZudbL2ST7zmq-nBqV5_Kj172khOxe6nDJ2xl_YKuUpup9zKqDEBrMZqFITEVHrUfORXNLZlDeDEzoQ8sacHajSY5A&_hsmi=17234539 A majority of professionals believe they have secured their systems adequately. Obviously in the field of accounting and taxes, internet and data security are very important to clients as well as the professionals. With all the identity theft problems happening recently, this is definitely a valid concern. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa