The latest Money Matters Report looks at ways to protect your identity and your refund during tax season. Tara Lynn Wagner filed the following report.

Think of tax time as high season for scammers looking to get their hands on your money.  

"They know there are victims out there. They are looking for those victims," says Cary Ziter of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Luckily, Ziter says there are a few simple ways to stop thieves in their tracks.

One: be picky about your tax preparer, since these documents contain all the keys to your identity.

"Share it with a professional that you know, you’ve worked with in the past perhaps, or gotten a recommendation to work with, somebody that you know you can trust with the data. "

Two: Keep things private.  Don't work on your taxes in a coffee shop. And since 92 percent of New York taxpayers file electronically, never do it over public wifi.

"There are criminals out there that are trained to pinch this information," Ziter says.

Finally, be suspicious on the phone and on the internet. If someone calls without warning claiming to be from the IRS or the state tax department, they probably aren't.  

"You will have gotten a letter from us that says you have a tax obligation or there is an issue we need to talk about," Ziter says. "Rude as it sounds, best thing to do is hang up."

The same goes for phishing schemes. An email may look legit, but again, Ziter says the Tax Department doesn't use email to make initial contact or ask for personal information. So don't click on any links. Or better yet, just delete it unopened.

"You open it and right away, you are walking down a bad path," Ziter says.

The good news is that technology is making it easier for officials to identify and prevent fraud. In 2016, the New York State Tax Department says it stopped more than 330,000 suspicious refunds and saved taxpayers half a billion dollars in the process.

And you can help. If you've been contacted by a con artist claiming to be from the state or targeted by a scam, report it.  

For more information, visit https://tax.ny.gov/help/contact/fraud-scams-idtheft.htm.