The Delaware Department of Finance is reminding Delawareans to be on guard against phishing scams.
They say there is an uptick this time of year as tax season approaches.
The most common way for cybercriminals to obtain personal information—like credit cards, bank account info or social security numbers—is to simply ask for them over the phone or by email.
But Delaware’s Division of Revenue Director Jennifer Hudson says the state will never contact a taxpayer by those means.
“Any correspondence that we send to a taxpayer is going to be coming via the U.S. Postal Service and is going to be sent on letterhead that clearly identifies it as having been from the Division of Revenue,” said Hudson.
Hudson adds be vigilant when checking emails—scammers have many tricks. She says they will even try to spoof a familiar email address.
“One of the things that we’ve identified as having happened is people will substitute letters to make it look like a different letter. So for example, an ‘r’ and an ‘n’ together in text can sometimes look like an ‘m’,” said Hudson
Hudson urges people to be skeptical of phone calls and emails asking for personal information.
She also warns against clicking on hyperlinks from suspicious emails and advises people to use security software to protect from phishing scams.
If you believe you are the victim of a scam you can contact the Division of Revenue’s Tax Fraud Hotline at (302) 577-8958.