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IRS Advises Caution re Fictitious Email Requests
The Internal Revenue Service cautioned taxpayers during this holiday season to be on the lookout for emails claiming to be from the IRS luring individuals into disclosing personal information. These emails are bogus and are not from the tax agency.
“The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails asking for personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “Don’t be taken in by these criminals.”
“These scams encourage recipients to provide information used to steal the taxpayer’s identity,” said, Dianne Besunder, IRS New York spokeswoman. “The IRS never asks people for their PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information related to their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.”
“Taxpayers are busy during the holiday season and might be tempted by these schemes for additional spending money,” Besunder said. “We encourage anyone who receives such an email not to respond to it and put their personal identity at risk.”
Tricking consumers into disclosing their personal and financial information, such as secret access data or credit card or bank account numbers, is fraudulent activity which can result in identity theft. Such schemes perpetrated through the Internet are called “phishing” for information.
The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and financial assets. Typically, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to empty the victim’s financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or
benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns.
When the IRS learns of new schemes involving use of the IRS name or logo, it issues consumer alerts warning taxpayers about the schemes.
The IRS also has established an electronic mailbox for taxpayers to send information about suspicious e-mails they receive which claim to come from the IRS. Taxpayers should send the information to: p h i s h i n g @ i r s . g o v .
The IRS’s mailbox allows taxpayers to send copies of possibly fraudulent e-mails involving misuse of the IRS name and logo to the IRS for investigation. Instructions on how to properly submit one of these communications to the IRS may be found on the IRS.gov Web site. Enter the term “phishing” in the search box in the upper right hand corner. Then open the article titled “How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails” and scroll through it until you find the instructions. Following these instructions helps ensure that the bogus e-mails relayed by taxpayers retain critical elements found in the original e-mail. The IRS can use the information, URLs and links in the bogus e-mails to trace the hosting Web sites and alert authorities to help shut down these fraudulent sites.
However, due to the volume the mailbox receives, the IRS cannot acknowledge receipt or reply to taxpayers who submit their bogus e-mails. The p h i s h i n g @ i r s . g o v mailbox is only for suspicious e-mails and not for general taxpayer contact or inquiries.
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