Robinson, Whaley, Hammonds & Allison, PC- Blog » Web/Tech

5/11/09 Google: A Must-Have Contact in Your Cell Phone

P. Lewis Robinson — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:08:05 +0000

Have you ever been on the road or just unable to find a telephone book when you really needed a phone number? I bet you didn’t know that Google provides FREE services to help you out of these situations. If you dial 1-800-goog411 (1-800-466-4411), a voice will say: “Say the name of the business and the city and state.” When you respond with an answer such as “Robinson, Whaley, Hammonds & Allison; McDonough, GA” you will immediately be connected to our office.

This service is also provided via text messaging. Simply send a text message to 46645 (which is Google without the ‘e’) and type in the business name, city, and state. Within moments you will receive a text message response listing all of the matches within the area. This list will include the address and phone number for each match listed.

Go ahead – you know you want to try it!

3/23/09 – Do You Know What Is On Our Web Page?

P. Lewis Robinson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:28:03 +0000

HOME PAGE:
Local current events and the latest in business & tax news

OUR FIRM:
Our history, as well as the shareholders’ bios so you

can learn more about who we are

OUR SERVICES:
Areas of practice – see how we can serve you!

CLIENT RESOURCES:
        Financial calculators
        Track your refund
        Links to other useful web pages
        Helpful documents, such as: document retention, a list of
        expiring Federal Tax provisions, and charitable donations
        worksheet

Keep browsing for updates!

www.rwhcpa.com

10/6/08 – Intuit Online Backups

P. Lewis Robinson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:25:44 +0000

INTUIT ONLINE BACKUPS

Did you know that you can backup your personal data files online? Online backups are a great way to protect your personal data files in the event a virus, power outage or human error erases everything on your computer.

Intuit offers online backups for as little as $4.95 a month for 1GB and $14.95 for 10GB. Most data files, including QuickBooks files, can be backed up to these online data centers. You can choose which files you want to backup and schedule automatic backups for times that are convenient for you.

This service is safe and secure, because your data is encrypted and stored in two separate online data centers. If you ever need to access any of these files you can retrieve them using any computer that has an internet connection.

For more information on this service please visit:

http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/add_ons/online_data_backup.jsp?view=overview#tabAnchor

8/25/08 – Fake E-mails from the IRS are Scams

P. Lewis Robinson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:19:04 +0000

Fake Emails from the IRS are Scams

Never Fall for an Email Pretending to be from the IRS

By William Perez, About.com

Filed In:

The Internal Revenue Service never contacts taxpayers via e-mail. So if you have received an email claiming to come from the IRS, chances are the email is a scam. Here’s how you can protect yourself.

Identifying Scam Emails

Does the email ask for your credit card, bank account, PIN, password, or other sensitive information?

“The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.” (Source: IR-2007-109)

Common Themes in Email Scams

Email scams often trick you into thinking you have a missing refund, are under criminal investigation, refers to a non-existent tax form, or asks for your credit card number.

Recent email scams have shown some similarities, such as spelling mistakes and showing tax refunds for an amount that includes dollars and cents. (Usually, tax refunds are for amounts in whole dollars.)

Don’t Click on Links or Open Attachments

The email probably contains links to Web sites or attachments. Do not click on those links or open any attachments. Those Web pages or attachments could contain malicious software or code designed to hijack your computer.

Forward the Email to the IRS for Investigation

You can forward to the email to the IRS. Investigators at the tax agency will use the information contained in the emails to track down the criminals.

To forward the email, make sure your email software is displaying all the headers in the message. Many email programs show only the most important headers by default. Once you are displaying all the headers, forward the fake email to phishing@irs.gov.

“The IRS can use the information, URLs and links in the bogus e-mails to trace the hosting Web sites and alert authorities to help shut down these fraudulent sites.” (Source: IR-2006-49)

The IRS will probably not acknowledge the receipt of your email.

Delete the Email

After forwarding the email to the IRS, delete the email. You might also want to run a scan of your computer using your antivirus or internet security program.

Contacting the IRS

If you have any concerns or questions about your taxes, you should contact the IRS directly. Here’s some phone numbers:

Tax Refunds: 1-800-829-4477, or visit Where’s My Refund on the IRS Web site.
Questions about Your Taxes: 1-800-829-1040, or visit a local IRS office.