IRS Warns Taxpayers of Suspicious E-Mails and Phishing Schemes

The IRS has issued several recent consumer warnings on the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers’ financial information in order to steal their identity and assets.

In recent weeks, a phony e-mail claiming to come from the IRS has been circulating in large numbers. The subject line of the e-mail often states that the e-mail is a "Notice of Underreported Income". The e-mail may contain an attachment or a link to a bogus Web page directing taxpayers to their "tax statement." In either case, when the recipient opens the attachment or clicks on the link, they download a Trojan horse-type of virus to their computers.

Malicious code (also known as malware), of which the Trojan horse is but one example, can take over the victim’s computer hard drive, giving someone remote access to the computer, or it could look for passwords and other information and send them to the scammer. The scammer will then use whatever information they gather to commit identity theft, gain access to bank accounts and more.

The IRS does NOT send unsolicited e-mails to taxpayers about their tax accounts! Anyone who receives an unsolicited e-mail claiming to come from the IRS should avoid opening any attachments or clicking on any links. People can report suspicious e-mails they receive which claim to come from the IRS to phishing@irs.gov.

What is Phishing?

Phishing, as in “fishing for information” and “hooking” victims is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, phishers send an e-mail or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you may deal with — for example, an Internet service provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message may ask you to “update,” “validate,” or “confirm” your account information. Some phishing e-mails threaten a dire consequence if you don’t respond. The messages direct you to a Website that looks just like a legitimate organization’s site. But it isn’t. It’s a bogus site whose sole purpose is to trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

What to Do if You Become Aware of an IRS Related Phishing Scam?

The IRS is very concerned and aware of suspicious emails and phishing schemes. If you receive an unsolicited e-mail communication claiming to be from the IRS, please forward the message to phishing@irs.gov. It is important that the original communication that was received is included, as well as Internet headers. The IRS can use the information found in the e-mail such as URLs and links to trace the hosting Website and alert authorities to help shut down the fraudulent sites.

You may not receive an individual response to your e-mail because of the volume of reports the IRS receives each day.

What to Do if You Fall Victim to Identity Theft?

1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports. Contact ONE of the three major credit bureaus (they will automatically contact the other two bureaus for you) to place a fraud alert on your credit file and request a free copy of your credit report: Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 or www.Equifax.com, TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289 or www.TransUnion.com or Experian: 1-888-397-3742 or www.Experian.com,

2. File a police report,

3. Contact any financial institutions for which your personal information (such as account numbers) may have been compromised,

4. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission,

5. Call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.

Visit the Following IRS Links for More Information

• Suspicious E-Mails and Identity Theft

• How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails and Phishing Schemes

• How to Report and Identify Phishing, E-mail Scams and Bogus IRS Web Sites

• Identity Theft and Your Tax Records