Stark County treasurer urges residents to be cautious of tax scams

It's tax season.

Which also means it's the prime season for scams.

The Stark County Treasurer's Office is encouraging taxpayers to be cautious with their personal information after one resident received a letter falsely claiming to be a tax collector.

A Stark resident received a letter in the mail telling them their property was going to be seized because of unpaid taxes, but the notice was not sent by the county.

Deana Stafford, deputy treasurer at the Stark County Treasurer's Office, said this is the first scam letter the county has gotten notice of this year, but it's not likely to be the last.

"Occasions like this have happened sporadically through the years," she said. "A lot of times, we'll start getting a bunch of phone calls ... this may be the start of something happening like it has done in the past."

Treasurer Alex Zumbar said any communication from the county would be on official letterhead from the Treasurer's Office or Prosecutor's Office, or come from a tax lien certificate company the county has chosen to use as a vendor to collect delinquent taxes.

"If (taxpayers) do give out personal information about themselves, such as their Social Security number or something else like a credit card number ... they could do harm to that individual," Zumbar said.

Anyone who questions the validity of a letter they receive can contact their local authorities or call the Stark County Treasurer's Office at 330-451-7814 to learn whether it's real.

Reach Paige at 330-580-8577, pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County treasurer encourages residents to be wary of tax scams