Beware of Internet Tax Scams
By: Myron P. Trafelet Jr. CPA
On March 13, 2007 the Internal Revenue Service issued IR-2007-58, which address’ taxpayer confusion regarding the proliferation of internet sites that contain some form of the Internal Revenue Service or IRS acronym.
On Monday July 16, 2007 I was contacted by a client regarding an e-mail they received, informing them of a small refund from the IRS and requested that they send credit card information so that the refund could be deposited to the credit card. After receiving the call I remembered an article I received a few days earlier and felt it important enough to write this article to let the unsuspecting individuals know about this scam. The following are excerpts from the article I received from Western CPE.
The technique used is called “Phishing”. Phishing is used by identity thieves to acquire personal financial data in order to gain access to financial accounts of unsuspecting consumers, run up charges on their credit cards or apply for new loans in their names. These Internet-based criminals pose as representatives of IRS or representatives of financial institutions and send out fictitious e-mail correspondence in an attempt to trick consumers into disclosing private information.
The e-mail received by my client is as follows:
Good News,
After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $97.00. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-4 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example (invalid records or applying after the deadline). The good news is that IRS will make this refund directly to your visa and/or mastercard linked to your checking/savings account instead a check or a direct deposit.
To access the form for your tax refund, please continue to our secure form “Tax Refund V-M”.
Important: do not use credit and/or American express or discovery cards. Only cards that are linked to your checking/savings are accepted.
The IRS has posted a sample of a phishing e-mail on its Web site, the official Web site for the IRS is “irs.gov”. A typical e-mail notifies a taxpayer of an outstanding refund and urges the taxpayer to send a Social Security and credit card number. Taxpayers should note that the IRS does not use e-mail to initiate contact with taxpayers about issues related to their accounts. If a taxpayer has any doubt whether a contact from the IRS is authentic, the taxpayer should call the IRS (800) 829-1040.
Again, the IRS does NOT use e-mail to initiate contact with taxpayers. If you have any further questions regarding this issue please feel free to contact me at (520) 316-6080 or contact your tax professional.