No, not scams to try to cheat on your taxes, but scams leveraging people's fears of the IRS .
Since my business is taxes I subscribe to a number of news services like I mentioned yesterday. One of those services happens to be from the Internal Revenue Service. In one of the emails I received there was a list of scams that everyone should be aware of; the list is below. The important point is that if you receive a phone call or email from the IRS you need to verify that it is actually the IRS!
What I found really fascinating is that a scam has already cropped up concerning the rebate payments that were included in the economic stimulus package that hasn't even passed yet! Only a couple weeks have passed since it was announced and already some enterprising souls are out there trying to use it to take advantage of people. Makes me sick!
What I found really fascinating is that a scam has already cropped up concerning the rebate payments that were included in the economic stimulus package that hasn't even passed yet! Only a couple weeks have passed since it was announced and already some enterprising souls are out there trying to use it to take advantage of people. Makes me sick!
Well, here's the list in the email:
- Rebate phone call - someone calls and tells the person that they can receive a sizable rebate for filing their taxes early.
- Refund email - the email states that the person is eligible for a tax refund. All they need to do is click on the enclosed link and enter their personal informaion.
- Audit email - the email notifies the person that their tax return is being audited, but what's different about this one is that the name of the person the email is sent to is in the saluation at the beginning of the email.
- Changes to tax law email - this one is sent to businesses, accountants and other financial types. Clicking on the link in the email probably downloads some type of spyware, malware, etc. to the persons computer.
- Paper check call - the caller claims to be from the IRS and is calling to verify the persons bank account information because the check that was sent hasn't been cashed yet.
If you want to read all the details the report is IR-2008-011. And if you happen to receive one of these calls or emails or a different scam you can forward or report it to the IRS here: phishing@irs.gov. Given how quickly new scams come out this list might already be out of date!
2 comments:
I don't know what is worse. That there are people out there scamming folks OR that the folks fall for sh$$ like this!
Unrelated to the IRS stuff but certainly government related is a scam whereby someone calls to advise you that you are in big trouble because you failed to report for jury duty.
They tell the poor sap that they are subject to immediate arrest/jail!
They tell the person they need to verify the SSN.
The person, likely scared to death about going to jail (and usually an older person I'm sure) gives the SSN.
The person on the other end asks them to hold on; then comes back and assures them that all if fine.
The unsuspecting person hangs up, breathing a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the identity thief is already getting busy...
PS
You may want to get rid of this word verification thing. I had to type if three times!
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