Watch out for these three scams

Warnings have been issued about three scams that falsely imply government approval.

One fraud alert comes from Congressman Mike Thompson, who urged seniors to ignore an informational card sent from the “National Processing Center” warning seniors about impending cuts to Medicare.

“This mailing is a scam,” Thompson said. “It is not official or factual. Do not be frightened of it or allow them to take advantage of you. Congress is investigating it. This mailing is nothing but a scam.”

A second con comes via email. Bonnie Lee, a Sonoma-based tax advisor, said that for the past several weeks her inbox has been deluged with e-mails from various sources all claiming that the IRS has rejected her federal tax deposit. It then directs the recipient to a website and requests personal financial information.

Do not respond, she said. “You know what’s coming next, don’t you? Yep, identity theft.”

Lee warns that the IRS never contacts a taxpayer via e-mail. “It just isn’t done that way,” she said. “If you receive one of these email scams, forward the email in question to [email protected].”

The third warning has been issued by CAL FIRE. Officials report a recent donation scam in which a person on the telephone requests a monetary donation to pay for firefighter training. Any such call is bogus.

“Residents need to know that CAL FIRE never solicits funds in order to provide services to the communities we serve,” said Josh White, CAL FIRE deputy chief. “We hope that by getting the word out early no one will give their money to these criminals and that if residents do get a call from a scammer, they will be prepared to gather pertinent information so we can put a stop to this.”

Anyone receiving such a call should report it to CAL FIRE Law Enforcement Officers at 408.778.0930.