March 28, 2014 [9]
www.rentonreporter.com
Renton residents among those caught in tax-fraud scams believed to be linked to Seattle Archdiocese issues diocese of Seattle, which covers Western Washington, have been victims of tax-identity fraud, which is national in scope, according to Greg Magnoni, an archdiocese spokesman. The data breach was discovered in early March. The investigation is continuing, but investigators don’t know the source of the problem, nor whether the personal information came from a database, he said. “As a result, we cannot say whether the source originated from systems within the archdiocese — including parishes and schools — or systems of vendors or another outside source,” Magnoni said. In a letter last week, Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain assured the 600,000 or so parishioners in Western Washington that the archdiocese “will get to the bottom of this matter.” “We all hear about this kind of scam, and we hope that it will never touch us personally,” Sartain wrote in the letter. “Now that it has, I want you to know of my
What to do: Archbishop Sartain offered the following advice: • Check the Archdiodese website for updates at www.seattlearchdiocese.org; click on IRS TAX FRAUD INFORMATION • Call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490, Ext. 245, for assistance. • Actual victims of tax-identity theft, should: – Contact an IRS Special Agent at 206-464-4920 – file a report with local law enforcement – Send an email to taxinformation@seattlearch.org, confirming that your tax identity has been compromised. Include full name, parish or school and whether you are an employee or volunteer. The Internal Revenue Service has extensive information about identity theft on its website, irs.gov. Search under data breach and under identity theft. The latter search will yield information about what to do if you suspect your personal information has been stolen. care and concern.” The IRS is presenting six regional gatherings throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle to provide information about tax-identity fraud, led by Kenneth Hines, IRS Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office. The meeting closest to Renton was Tuesday in Bellevue, which was attended by about 400 people.
“There were some people that when they asked questions you could tell from their voice that they’re hurting and unhappy but overall the people were grateful,” said Jonathan Tassan, parish administrator. “Someone even commented that it was good to just gather with other people who were also victimized and commiserate with one another,” he said.
There’s also a meeting in Olympia, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday at St. Michael, 1208 11th Ave. S.E., Olympia. Contact Dean. A. Radford at dradford@tukwilareporter.com.
The City of Renton is offering CERT emergency response training in April and May to individuals to help them respond to a disaster at home and in their neighborhoods. The “hands on” training is 6-9 p.m. on Tuesdays, April
15-May 27, at Renton Fire Station 14 on Lind Avenue Southwest, with a final drill and graduation on Saturday, May 31.More information and registration is available online at http://www. rentonwa.gov/cert. Cost is $25 for Renton residents and $30 for nonresidents. The minimum age to participate is 18 years old.
13303 SE 288th St. Bldg #1 Auburn, WA 98092
OPEN HOUSE
Preschool - Pre-K - JK March 31, 2014 • 5pm - 8pm 235-631-3796 www.jr-junction.com
April 5th ~ 6th We are getting really yummy with our pear-centric food crawl. Bring your appetite and your sense of adventure and take a trip though flavor-town! SPRING SENSATIONS EVENTS: ALL MONTH! Pear map to all things pear-fectly delicious in town April 5
Leavenworth International Film Festival
April 5
Dinner & La Boheme
April 12 Total Experience Gospel Choir April 12 Leavenworth Ale-Fest
Upgrade your appliances—for free!
April 17 Music at the Mountain
For a limited time, schedule a free pick up of your old appliance and get a new ENERGY STAR® qualified model for FREE. Call 1-877-341-2314.
April 26 Dinner & Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte
pse.com/appliancereplacement
April 19 Easter Egg Hunt April 19 Icicle Creek Chamber Players April 20 Easter Bruch at Sleeping Lady April 27 Earth Day Community Fair
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City offers CERT training