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    Just a reminder

    IRS Newswire
    IR-2005-136
    November 30, 2005

    IRS Warns of e-Mail Scam about Tax Refunds

    WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued a consumer alert about an Internet scam in which consumers receive an e-mail informing them of a tax refund. The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link that requests personal information, such as Social Security number and credit card information.

    This scheme is an attempt to trick the e-mail recipients into disclosing their personal and financial data. The practice is called “phishing” for information.

    The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and financial assets. Generally, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns.

    The bogus e-mail, which claims to come from “tax refunds@irs.gov,” tells the recipient that he or she is eligible to receive a tax refund for a given amount. It then says that, to access a form for the tax refund, the recipient must use a link contained in the e-mail. The link then asks for the personal and financial information.

    The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail. Additionally, taxpayers do not have to complete a special form to obtain a refund.

    If you receive an unsolicited e-mail purporting to be from the IRS, take the following steps:

    · Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.

    · Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax refund.

    The IRS has seen numerous attempts over the years to defraud the public and the federal government through a variety of schemes, including abusive tax avoidance transactions, identity theft, claims for slavery reparations, frivolous arguments and more. More information on these schemes may be found on the criminal enforcement page at IRS.gov.
    http://www.viagrabelgiquefr.com/

    #2
    Phishing

    It's the holiday season and the scammers must need money to do their shopping.

    Do they ever catch anyone for scams like this? I have received several in the last week which claimed they were from PayPal and I needed to verify my information since someone else had used it overseas. I forwarded them to PayPal's security department, but I am curious about how often the scammers get caught and prosecuted.

    Comment


      #3
      Just a guess but it has to be very few that get caught. I must admit I just about gave the information to paypal on those. I had just used Paypal and had problems and then the email showed up the same hour. I even clicked on the link and input data but the data was wrong - by accident! I was darn lucky. As soon as I hit the send button I knew it was a mistake but I got lucky and nobody was able to steal my money.

      It's dangerous what is going on in the internet.

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