It’s not just your own company’s financial info you have to worry about. Any data you have on employees, independent contractors (ICs) and other vendors who are sole proprietors can also be a target for scammers and would-be crooks. After all, if someone manages to get an IC’s name, address and SSN, the crook would have all he or she needs to go on a spending spree.

IRS recently released the following information to help you prevent fraud attempts — and to educate employees and others about what risks they may face. Here are four excellent resources you and employees should be aware of to stay safe from phishing attempts and other common fraud:

1. IRS has a special department, Identity Protection Unit, just to deal with identity theft. You can reach it by calling 800-908-4490.
2. IRS will never contact your company or any individual taxpayer via e-mail. If you get a message that claims to be from the Service, forward it to phishing@irs.gov for investigation.
3. For certain fraud attempts, you may also want to contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-ID-THEFT.
4. At OnGuardOnline, you can get tips on how to strengthen your company’s online security, take quizzes on cyber-threats and much more.

Tags: A/P, Best practices, Controls, Fraud prevention, Identity theft, Payroll, Resources, Technology