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Beware of

Find out how to avoid becoming a victim of IRS-impersonators who are tricking taxpayers, stealing their money and identities.

By: Amy Dierdorff

IRA & 401(k) Insights

Opening your inbox to see that you’ve received an e-mail from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seems bad enough. What’s worse is finding out that those authentic-looking e-mails aren’t from the IRS at all; they’re part of an elaborate phishing scam aimed at stealing your identity and your money. These types of schemes are nothing new, but as scammers get more sophisticated, it’s important to know what to look for as you click through your inbox.

In July, the IRS updated its periodic alerts warning taxpayers about scams that fraudulently use the agency’s name, logo, or website. Though identity-theft scams may take place through e-mail, fax or phone, the recent IRS alert focuses on known e-mail schemes. “The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail to taxpayers either about their tax accounts or requesting sensitive personal and financial information,” the agency said. They warned recipients not to open attachments or click on any link in e-mails that appear to be from the IRS.

According to the IRS website, IRS-impersonators often e-mail taxpayers to ask for, “certain personal and financial information to process a tax return, tax payment or refund.” They may also claim that you are being audited. The purpose of such e-mails is to obtain enough information—such as a name, social security number, bank account or credit card number—to steal your identity.

 Below are a few known e-mail scams to look out for, as reported by the IRS:

• Targeting Tax Professionals. An e-mail claims to come from the IRS Tax Forums requesting that recipients register for an event for tax professionals by using an attached registration form. In reality, the IRS does not send registration forms by e-mail but makes them available instead on the Nationwide Tax Forums Website.
• Notification of Unclaimed Winnings. An e-mail claims to come from the U.S. Department of the Treasury notifying the recipient that they will receive millions of dollars in recovered funds, lottery winnings or cash consignment if they provide certain personal information, including phone numbers, via return e-mail. The victim is later contacted by telephone or further e-mail and instructed to deposit taxes on the funds before they can receive any of it, or they may be sent a phony check of the funds or winnings and told to deposit it but pay ten percent in taxes or fees.
• Offering a Tax Refund. A tax refund form is e-mailed, supposedly from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (a genuine and independent organization within the IRS which assists taxpayers with unresolved problems), telling recipients that they are eligible for a tax refund of a specific amount. The form asks for name, address and phone number and a substantial amount of financial information, such as bank account number, credit card number and expiration date, ATM PIN number and more. It also asks for your mother's maiden name (frequently used by many people as an account security password). At the bottom is a phony name and signature, claiming to be that of the Taxpayer Advocate. The implication is that the taxpayer must fill in and submit the form to receive a tax refund. In reality, taxpayers claim their tax refunds through the filing of an annual tax return, not a separate application form.

A comprehensive list of phishing schemes can be found at IRS.gov.

If you receive any suspicious e-mails claiming to come from the IRS, do not open them. If you do open one, don’t click on any links or open any attachments, as many of them are malicious. The IRS advises that you forward the e-mails to phishing@irs.gov, then delete them immediately. By doing so, you can help shut down the schemes and prevent others from being victimized as well.

Resources:
Phishing and Other Schemes Using the IRS Name

Problem Alerts: The IRS Warns of Scam E-mails

Nationwide Tax Forums Website

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