Scam Watch
The pitch: Early tax rebate!
The scams: It’s income tax season, and that means a new set of scams from fraudsters pretending to represent the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has put out warnings on these recent frauds.
* Phone calls supposedly from the agency, telling people that they’re eligible for early rebates. The caller asks for personal bank information.
* E-mails supposedly from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (a legitimate IRS organization) that include links to fake forms.
* E-mails directing recipients to a fake “Where’s My Refund?” site where credit card information is requested. (There is a genuine “Where’s My Refund?” site, but it doesn’t ask for credit card numbers.)
* E-mails offering $80 to people who fill out IRS customer satisfaction surveys.
The advice: The IRS says it never sends unsolicited e-mails to individuals. If you get a suspicious e-mail supposedly from the agency, forward it to phishing@irs.gov. Do not open any attachments. In addition, the agency says that it neither gathers nor verifies financial information by telephone. These calls can also be reported to the same website above.
Further info: IRS information on e-mail schemes is at www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=155344,00.html.
-- David Colker
