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Even the IRS is being used by identity thieves who want to steal your personal information and your money. They are using both the IRS name and logo in phishing emails and fake website scams.
Email Scams
Taxpayers are being alerted that an email-based phishing scam is targeting Department of Defense military members, retirees and civilian employees.
It claims the recipient may be eligible to receive funds from the IRS and requests “verification” of personal and financial information. The email displays an address ending with “.mil” and appears to come from “Defense Finance and Accounting Services”.
The thieves are using the information to empty a victim’s financial accounts or open new credit card accounts.
As the tax season shifts into full speed, a good rule of thumb to remember is you will never receive an unsolicited email from the IRS.
To launch the current tax season, the IRS recently updated its website and continually updates its online security practices. Remember: the only valid web address regarding the IRS is www.irs.gov, though some taxpayers are being tricked by fake websites.
Fake IRS Websites
There is currently a scam that emails a taxpayer and offers a link to a website that looks almost identical to the IRS e-Services online registration page. Don’t be misled. Emails with links to websites that end in .com, .net, .org or another designation instead of .gov are NOT from the IRS.
Some taxpayers report they have also received unsolicited faxes requesting personal information on Form W8-BEN and other taxpayers have been sent text messages that claim to be from the IRS.
The best practice is to never open or respond to an unsolicited IRS request of any kind.
Should you find an unsolicited IRS notice in your email inbox, you may want to report it by forwarding the email to phishing@irs.gov. You should also inform your tax preparation specialist.
Click here to read more information about these and other scams that are using the IRS name as well as what you should do should you become a victim.
