IRS Email Scams
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On May 31, 2007, the IRS issued this statement, "The Internal Revenue Service today alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency's Criminal Investigation division." With today's vast use of the world wide web, these kinds of scams are becoming more common.
The IRS does not send out unsolicited emails. They do not ask for detailed personal and financial information via email. They never ask for PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for credit cards, bank or other financial accounts. If they want to contact you they send a letter by mail.
When the IRS discovers schemes involving the use of the IRS name it tries to altert people as well as authorities. Here are some of the most recent schemes that people should be aware of.
1. An e-mail purporting to be from the IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Board. The email seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them.
The IRS warns people that the e-mail link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person's computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer and all the information on it.
2. An e-mail suggesting that a customer had filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest version appears to be aimed at business taxpayers as well as individuals.
3. One e-mail scam, fraught with grammatical errors and typoes, looks like a page from the IRS Website and claims to be from the "IRS Antifruad Commission," a factitious group. The e-mail claims someone has enrolled the taxpayer's credit card in EFTPS (the IRS's electronic taxpaying system mostly uses by employers) and has tried to pay taxes with it.
The e-mail also says there have been fraud attempts involving the tax payer's bank account. The e-mail claims money was lost and remaining funds are blocked. Recipients are asked to click on a link that will help them recover their funds, but the subsequent site asks for personal information that the thieves can use to steal the taxpayers identity.
4. E-mails claiming to come from tax-efunds@irs.gov, admin@irs.gov and similar variations told the recipients that they were eligible to receive a tax refund for a given amount (often for $63.80). It then directs the recipient to click on a link that takes them to a fake IRS website, that looks very similar a genuine IRS site, however it has been modified to ask for personal information that IRS page does not require.
If you get an e-mail that appears to be from the IRS do not click on the email or open the attachment. The IRS asks people to forward these e-mails to a new IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov. The link will give instructions for sending the bogus e-mail so that it retains important URLS and other information that the IRS can use to help authorities shut down the fraudulent sites.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has found many separate web sites in at least 20 different countries. These schemes are totally set up for the purpose of identity fraud. Because many individuals a have a fear of the IRS, it is easy for these scams to work. If you have done your best to file your taxes on time and correctly, you have nothing to fear from the IRS.
Even if you make an mistake on your return, the IRS will work with you. Once again, the IRS does not contact taxpayers by e-mail. They will always send you a notice via US Postal Service mail. If you get a suspicious e-mail do not hesitate to forward it to the above IRS mailbox.
About the Author
Christopher Anderson is part owner of Lone Peak Business Solutions, Inc. He wants to share his success as a business owner with others who desire to own their own business. He also believes that the economy is stronger with more business owners, and as a result, he is focused on helping business owners succeed.
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