Have You or a Family Member Ever Been Targeted or Victimized by a Financial Scam?

Beware of Scams This Tax Season

As tax season is underway, it’s a good time to be on the lookout for tax scams that seek to obtain your personal information. While we know seniors are often the target of tax scams, criminals also target teens. Teens filing taxes for the first time may be unaware of common scams.

 A recent survey found that the total money lost by teens in online scams grew by nearly 2,500% between 2017 and 2022. Victims under the age of 20 lost $210 million in 2022 alone. If you’re a parent or grandparent with young kids, sharing the below tips can be a first step in keeping them safe.

Tips to Avoid a Tax Scam:

• The IRS won't initiate contact with you by email or over social media to request personal or financial information.
• The IRS also doesn't send text messages offering things like tax relief, tax credits, or help setting up an online account.
• Look out for fake emails or websites pretending to be the IRS. Don't click links you cannot trust.
• Phone scams impersonating the IRS often threaten taxpayers with things like arrest and deportation. Remember, the IRS does not leave pre-recorded, urgent or menacing messages nor will we demand immediate payment by gift card.
• Remember the IRS initiates most contacts through regular mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

CLICK HERE to read more tips.

Working to Keep Elections Safe

Wisconsin families often share concerns about election security with me. As Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, I’m focused on increasing confidence in our elections. The more confident Americans are in their elections, the more likely they are to participate.

I’m working to provide states with the tools they need to conduct safe and secure elections. One example includes providing states with access to the Social Security Death Database. Ensuring states have accurate voter rolls is critical for reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in our elections. In many states, elections officials rely on monthly reports to update their voter rolls. By providing states with real time information from the Social Security Administration, we can ensure our voter rolls are up to date and accurate.

Undue private influence has no place in our elections. In 2022, in Southeast Wisconsin, a “Mobile Voting Van” traveled around Racine to meet voters and collect early ballots. This van was purchased with funds commonly called “Zuckerbucks.” This is shorthand for private dollars used for the public administration of elections. In this case, the money was intended for poll worker recruitment efforts or the purchase of new equipment. According to a Racine County Court, however, some of these funds were used for illegally partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. Our election results may be partisan, but our election administration should never be partisan. I’m working to stop this undue private influence in our elections.

Last week, I joined Josh Findlay, Director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's national Election Protection Project to discuss keeping our elections safe and secure. Watch the full podcast by clicking HERE.

In a further effort to improve election administration and boost voter confidence, I co-sponsored legislation to require electioneering communication reports to be filed electronically with the Federal Election Commission. These reports provide the public important information about groups that purchase advertisements that are run with the purpose of influencing an upcoming election. Right now, these reports can be filed on paper, delaying the ability to share these reports with the public in a timely manner. This simple fix increases transparency for the American people in our elections. We recently passed this legislation out of the Committee on House Administration, and it is headed to the House Floor.

Calling All High School Students!

My office is now accepting submissions for the 2024 Congressional Art Competition. This is a great tradition that gives high school students an opportunity to highlight their artistic talents, and the winner will have their piece displayed in the U.S. Capitol.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the submissions by our talented artists in Wisconsin. If you’re one of them or know someone who might be interested, click here to find out how to participate.

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

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