Technologies

Tax Scams Are Preying on Last-Minute Filers

If you still haven’t filed your taxes, think before you click.

There’s less than a month to go before this year’s income tax filing deadline, and security experts are warning consumers to be on the lookout for tax-related scams and other attempts to steal their refunds and personal information.

Just a heads up that like last year, this year’s federal income tax deadline is April 18 — three days later than usual — thanks to a weekend and Emancipation Day, which is observed in Washington, DC. But the more you procrastinate, the more likely you are to fall victim to some kind of tax-related cybercrime.

Scammers can capitalize on your last-minute efforts to play catch-up if you don’t take a beat before clicking on a dubious link or handing over personal information. Either action could put you at risk for financial fraud or identity theft.

Tax-season scammers often impersonate the IRS, tax professionals or online filing websites, said David Putnam, head of identity and protection for LifeLock, a provider of consumer identity theft protections.

Phishing emails, texts and even phone calls designed to look like they’re from the IRS, or an IRS agent, are a common sight this time of year. They might threaten jail time or big fines if the targeted person doesn’t pay what the cybercriminals might claim are back or overdue taxes.

Those are all sure signs of a scam, Putnam said.

«The IRS only communicates through snail mail, so if you get a text message claiming to be from the IRS, you’ll know you’re actually being contacted by a scammer,» he said.

The IRS also doesn’t take payments in the forms of cryptocurrency or gift cards, making requests for back taxes in those forms obvious signs of a scam too.

Phishing emails could also carry fake tax forms that look like they’re coming from an employer or a bank, said Ravi Srinivasan, CEO of Votiro, a cybersecurity company that specializes in the secure transfer of data.

Srinivasan said consumers are used to getting lots of these files from lots of different places. They’re not necessarily going to think twice before opening up an attachment that could contain malware instead of a tax form.

«Do they know that it’s clean? Do they know that it’s safe?» he asked. «They don’t. They just hope that it is and the bad actors know that.»

When consumers do file, it’s critical that they make sure they’re using a legitimate tax preparation service, since tax returns are chock full of people’s most sensitive personal information, including their Social Security numbers.

Unsolicited offers to file your taxes for you should be regarded with skepticism, Putnam said. They could be part of a «ghost preparation scam,» where a cybercriminal impersonates a tax professional and promises a large refund that never appears or steals your refund by routing it to another account.

They also could collect your personal information through a website spoofing of a legitimate tax preparation service, then use it to file a false tax return and claim your refund, he said.

«Remember, if you enter any personal information on a spoofed website, scammers will have access to it,» he said.

Here are a few tips from the IRS and others for staying alert.

File early. OK. The ship may have already sort of sailed on this one, but the earlier you file, the less time cybercriminals have to use your identity to commit fraud.

Watch out for phishing and smishing. The IRS won’t send unsolicited emails or texts. Skip the links and attachments and go straight to the IRS or the applicable state and city websites.

Get a PIN. File this tip under things to remember for next year. Taxpayers who can validate their identities with the IRS can obtain an identity protection PIN, a six-digit code that prevents a cybercriminal from filing a fraudulent tax return with your Social Security number.

Fight back against fraud. If you discover someone has filed a tax return in your name, complete a paper return and include form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit), Putnam said. Report the fraud to local law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission. Monitor your credit reports and account statements and contact the three major credit bureaus to ask for a freeze so that no one can request new credit in your name.

Always use good passwords and 2FA. These are both a must for any account related to your tax returns and documents. Make sure you’re using good antivirus software and that it, along with your operating system, is up to date. While you’re at it, back up your tax information to a removable drive or encrypted cloud storage. Paper copies and drives should be securely stored.

Know who you’re dealing with. If you’re self-filing online, make sure you’re using a reputable service. If you hire someone to do it for you, make sure they’re who they say they are. Be especially careful when submitting documents both online and on paper. Any decent tax professional or service will use a secure portal, not ask you to email them unprotected. Paper documents shouldn’t be left on a desk for anyone to find.

Shred everything. Tax documents that are no longer needed must be properly destroyed. Dumpster diving still happens. Don’t be tempted to toss them in the trash and definitely don’t put them in the recycling.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 24, #713

Hints and answers for Connections for May 24, #713.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle has a fun variety of categories. The purple one appeals to my English major heart. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Goo-goo.

Green group hint: Not shirts.

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Acclaimed writers.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Baby gear.

Green group: Kinds of pants minus «s.»

Blue group: New York sports team members.

Purple group: Black women authors.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is baby gear. The four answers are bib, bottle, monitor and stroller.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of pants minus «s.» The four answers are capri, jean, jogger and slack.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is New York sports team members. The four answers are Jet, Met, Net and Ranger.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is black women authors. The four answers are Butler, Gay, Hooks and Walker.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, May 20

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 20.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is a fun one, and now I’m singing the song from 1-Across in my head. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Pink ___ Club» (Chappell Roan hit)
Answer: PONY

5A clue: Instrument that might be made with a comb and wax paper
Answer: KAZOO

6A clue: How bedtime stories are often read
Answer: ALOUD

7A clue: On edge
Answer: TENSE

8A clue: Short Instagram video
Answer: REEL

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Less colorful
Answer: PALER

2D clue: Layer of the upper atmosphere
Answer: OZONE

3D clue: Totally pointless
Answer: NOUSE

4D clue: Hit a high note in a high place, perhaps
Answer: YODEL

5D clue: Kit ___ bar
Answer: KAT

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Want to Speak to Dolphins? Researchers Won $100,000 AI Prize Studying Their Whistling

The scientists studied a bottlenose dolphin community in Sarasota, Florida, uncovering evidence of language-like communications.

If any dolphins are reading this: hello!

A team of scientists studying a community of Florida dolphins has been awarded the first $100,000 Coller Dolittle Challenge prize, set up to award research in interspecies communication algorithms.

The US-based team, led by Laela Sayigh of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, found that a type of whistle that dolphins employ is used as an alarm. Another whistle they studied is used by dolphins to respond to unexpected or unfamiliar situations. The team used non-invasive hydrophones to perform the research, which provides evidence that dolphins may be using whistles like words, shared with multiple members of their communities.

Capturing the sounds is just the beginning. Researchers will use AI to continue deciphering the whistles to try to find more patterns.

«The main thing stopping us cracking the code of animal communication is a lack of data. Think of the 1 trillion words needed to train a large language model like ChatGPT. We don’t have anything like this for other animals,» said Jonathan Birch, a professor at the London School of Economics and Politics and one of the judges for the prize.

«That’s why we need programs like the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which has built up an extraordinary library of dolphin whistles over 40 years. The cumulative result of all that work is that Laela Sayigh and her team can now use deep learning to analyse the whistles and perhaps, one day, crack the code,» he said.

The award was part of a ceremony honoring the work of four teams from across the world. In addition to the dolphin project, researchers studied ways in which nightingales, marmoset monkeys and cuttlefish communicate.

The challenge is a collaboration between the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. Submissions for next year open up in August.

Dolphins are just the beginning

Researching animals and trying to learn the secrets of their communication is nothing new; but AI is speeding up the creation of larger and lager datasets.

«Breakthroughs are inevitable,» says Kate Zacarian, CEO and co-founder of Earth Species Project, a California-based nonprofit that also works in breaking down language barriers with the animal world.

«Just as AI has revolutionized the fields of medicine and material science, we see a similar opportunity to bring those advances to the study of animal communication and empower researchers in this space with entirely new capabilities,» Zacarian said.

Zacarian applauded Sayigh’s team and their win and said it will help bring broader recognition to the study of non-human animal communication. It could also bring more attention to ways that AI can change the nature of this type of research.
«The AI systems aren’t just faster — they allow for entirely new types of inquiry,» she said. «We’re moving from decoding isolated signals to exploring communication as a rich, dynamic, and structure phenomenon — whish is a task that’s simply too big for our human brains, but possible for large-scale AI models.»

Earth Species recently released an open-source large audio language model for analyzing animal sounds called NatureLM-audio. The organization is currently working with biologists and ethologists to study species including carrion crows, orcas, jumping spiders and others and plans to release some of their findings later this year, Zacarian said.