Media and Press Releases

Wilton Manors, Florida (February 26, 2015) – Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued two historically important orders. The decisions came after much consideration and in part due to comments submitted by the FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC), chaired by Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick.

The first order preempts state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that restrict cities from offering broadband services. This has significant impact in the State of Florida, which also has laws making it difficult for cities to offer these communication services.

“If local governments choose to offer broadband services and provide their residents and businesses with a choice, they should be able to do so,” says Mayor Resnick.

The second order allows the FCC to regulate broadband as a communications service and ensures Open Internet. 

As Mayor Resnick points out, “Broadband has become the most important service in our society and economy. I applaud these decisions.”

Until this Order, there was no ability to ensure that the few companies that control Broadband would do so in a way that would be consistent with the public interest.  These decisions stand to benefit all levels of government, businesses, the economy, technological innovation and most importantly consumers.  

“We all take Broadband for granted,” said Mayor Resnick, “as we do with other vital services such as roadways, water and electricity. However, Broadband is essential for public safety, education, applying for a job, communicating for work, and our social interaction.” 

Mayor Resnick will serve as chair of the IAC through 2016. After taking on the role, he selected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as Vice Chair. Resnick and de Blasio serve on the IAC alongside other county, state, municipal and tribal officials, including Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, to advise the FCC on important communications-related issues that affect their residents. Mayor Resnick is also a shareholder and practicing attorney with GrayRobinson Attorneys at Law.
 

ABOUT THE FCC IAC 

The Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (“IAC”), formerly known as the Local and State Government Advisory Committee, was created in 1997 to provide guidance to the Commission on issues of importance to state, local and tribal governments, as well as to the Commission. The IAC is composed of 15 elected and appointed officials of municipal, county, state, and tribal governments. The IAC provides ongoing advice and information to the Commission on a broad range of telecommunications issues of interest to state, local and tribal governments, including cable and local franchising, public rights-of-way, facilities siting, universal service, broadband access, barriers to competitive entry, and public safety communications, for which the Commission explicitly or inherently shares responsibility or administration with local, county, state or tribal governments. For more information on the FCC IAC, please visit: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/intergovernmental-advisory-committee

Phone Scams Continue to be Serious Threat, Remain on IRS “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2015 Filing Season 

IRS YouTube Video:
Tax Scams: English | Spanish | ASL
Podcasts:  English | Spanish
 

WASHINGTON — Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain near the top of the annual "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams for the 2015 filing season, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

The IRS has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent months as scam artists threaten police arrest, deportation, license revocation and other things. The IRS reminds taxpayers to guard against all sorts of con games that arise during any filing season.

"If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with aggressive threats if you don't pay immediately, it's a scam artist calling,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "The first IRS contact with taxpayers is usually through the mail. Taxpayers have rights, and this is not how we do business."

The Dirty Dozen is compiled annually by the IRS and lists a variety of common scams taxpayers may encounter any time during the year. Many of these con games peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns or hire someone to do so. This year for the first time, the IRS will issue the individual Dirty Dozen scams one at a time during the next 12 business days to raise consumer awareness.

Phone scams top the list this year because it has been a persistent and pervasive problem for many taxpayers for many months. Scammers are able to alter caller ID numbers to make it look like the IRS is calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS badge numbers. They often leave "urgent" callback requests. They prey on the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly, newly arrived immigrants and those whose first language is not English. Scammers have been known to impersonate agents from IRS Criminal Investigation as well.

“These criminals try to scare and shock you into providing personal financial information on the spot while you are off guard,” Koskinen said. “Don’t be taken in and don’t engage these people over the phone.”

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has received reports of roughly 290,000 contacts since October 2013 and has become aware of nearly 3,000 victims who have collectively paid over $14 million as a result of the scam, in which individuals make unsolicited calls to taxpayers fraudulently claiming to be IRS officials and demanding that they send them cash via prepaid debit cards.

Protect Yourself 
As telephone scams continue across the country, the IRS recently put out a new YouTube video with a renewed warning to taxpayers not to be fooled by imposters posing as tax agency representatives. The new Tax Scams video describes some basic tips to help protect taxpayers from tax scams.

These callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you.

The IRS reminds people that they can know pretty easily when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam.

 The IRS will never: 

• Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.
• Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
• Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:

• If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.
• If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the TIGTA at 1-800-366-4484 or at www.tigta.gov.
• If you’ve been targeted by this scam, also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint.

Remember, too, the IRS does not use email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue involving bills or refunds. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.
 

Additional information about tax scams is available on IRS social media sites, including YouTube http://www.youtube.com/irsvideos and Tumblr http://internalrevenueservice.tumblr.com, where people can search “scam” to find all the scam-related posts.

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