Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Don't fall for email from IRS.gov

There is a very convincing scam arriving in email boxes throughout the country. It's a phishing scam and requires a victim to click a link and submit information to receive a large IRS stimulus payment. You know better than to fall for that don't you? Even with the convincing email address of irs.gov and the official IRS logo - it's still a phishing scam. The real IRS requests:

"If you receive an unsolicited e-mail communication claiming to be from the IRS, please forward the original message to: phishing@irs.gov using the instructions provided below. You may not receive an individual response to your e-mail because of the volume of reports we receive each day.
  • The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail. In addition, the IRS does not request detailed personal information through e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
  • Do not open any attachments to questionable e-mails, which may contain malicious code that will infect your computer. Please be advised that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers via e-mails."