Fraud and Scam News

With the April 15 date for filing of tax returns draws nearer, online tax related scams and phishing emails have started to do the rounds and add to the tax season blues.

Emails, specially from the IRS asking you for your personal details should immediately ring the scam bell. Some may even claim to be a tax refund or help file for a refund, settle tax debt etc.
This phishing email claims to be from ‘tax_refunds@irs.gov’. These fake emails claiming to be from the IRS have catchy subject lines, some of which are-
Subject Line
Get Your Annual Tax Refund Now
Taxpayer Advocate Service (Refund Tax)
Collect Your Refund Now
U.S. Government Stimulus check.

The fact is, IRS or any legitimate government agencies are highly unlikely to send an email asking for your personal information. To quote IRS spokesman Eric Smith, ‘The IRS does not send refunds through email, do not audit people through email and above all do not collect taxes through email’.

If you do receive any such email, no matter how convincing it may sound or appear, just delete the mail. It is probably the best way to keep your personal information as well as your savings safe (IRS recommends that you forward that particular ‘tax-refund’ or ’stimulus check’ phishing email to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov).

Related posts:

1. Tax Refund Scam: IRS Warns that Season for Scammers has just begun!
2. Americans Warned About Tax Email Scams
3. Fake FBI Emails come knocking to pay back money lost to internet scams!
4. Phishing Email Vaults Over Campus Security Setup
5. E-mail Scams Still Going Strong ,Warns IRS

April 11th, 2009 | Tags: Anti-Scams, bogus IRS emails, fake emails, Internal Revenue Service, IRS tax refund phishing emails, phishing emails, Prevent Scams, stimulus check, tax | Category: Action Against Fraud, Email Scams, Phishing Scams, Prevent Scams | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL