Here’s how to protect yourself from common scams this tax season

By ADRIANA MORGA
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Scammers look for ways to trick people into giving them money year-round, but tax season can be particularly fraught. One of the most common tax scams is identity theft. Taxpayers usually know their identity has been stolen when they try to file their tax returns and the IRS says they’ve already done so. This usually means someone else filed in their name to try to get a refund. There are ways you can protect yourself, including setting up an identify protection pin with the IRS and not answering calls from numbers you don’t recognize.