Is this a scam?

[Kram BergGold]

My client received the following communication from what appears to be teh IRS but I think it is someone fishing for SS numbers.

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of$105.70. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here

[Grumpy]

Sounds pretty phishy to me.

[Bees Knees]

From the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...160334,00.html

"The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails asking for personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “Don’t be taken in by these criminals.”

"Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts."


Although this appears to be a new scam, it follows the same pattern. First contact through email. The IRS NEVER makes first contact through email. Period. Never has, never will...

[jainen]

>>After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity<<

This phrase was not written by someone for whom English is the native language.

[George Boutwell]

>>After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity<<

This phrase was not written by someone for whom English is the native language.

English is the official language of Nigeria, where they are educated to speak it like British bureaucrats.

>>For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.<<

This is not a complete sentence, adding credibility to its source being an IRS employee.

[Bill Tubbs]

email?

My client received the following communication from what appears to be teh IRS but I think it is someone fishing for SS numbers.

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of$105.70. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here

In order for the "communication" to have had a "please click here", I'm figuring it must have been an email. My first question to the client would be: how would the IRS know your email address?? When they start going "ummm... dunno" and realize that the IRS wouldn't know that, then they'll see that it's a phishing scam.

Bill

[BoPeepJr]

Scam?

That message is pure bunk. I forget the website but I'd forward it to my local IRS Office for their information.

[ChEAr$]

That much?

105$? now? It used to be $63.40, or thereabouts. Must be inflation.

[Skeemo]

IT'S A SCAM! My client received the email today (August 27th). Only difference refund was $268.32 and "will be processed in 2-3 days." Their official looking "IRS" form asked for SSN and DEBIT card #, Expiration date and CVV code. It is from a .RU website (Russia). Lot's of outsourcing going on now, but I don't think even the IRS is outsourcing our tax records to Russia!

[jimmcg]

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck chances are ............................................

[Jiggers]

IRS News Release today IR-2007-109

This was just released today from the IRS. There is an e-mail address to forward these scams.

IRS Warns Taxpayers of New E-mail Scams

Updated Aug. 24, 2007 — The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers of a new phishing scam, in which an e-mail purporting to come from the IRS advises taxpayers they can receive $80 by filling out an online customer satisfaction survey. The IRS urges taxpayers to ignore this solicitation and not provide any requested information. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers through e-mail.

Updated June 19, 2007 — In another recent scam, consumers have received a "Tax Avoidance Investigation" e-mail claiming to come from the IRS' "Fraud Department" in which the recipient is asked to complete an "investigation form," for which there is a link contained in the e-mail, because of possible fraud that the recipient committed. It is believed that clicking on the link may activate a Trojan Horse.

IR-2007-109, May 31, 2007

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency’s Criminal Investigation division.

The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Tax Board. The e-mail seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS warned people that the e-mail link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person’s computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer.

The IRS urged people not to click the link in the e-mail or open the attachment.
Similar e-mail variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions appear aimed at business taxpayers as well as individual taxpayers.

The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.

“Everyone should beware of these scam artists,” said Kevin M. Brown, Acting IRS Commissioner. “Always exercise caution when you receive unsolicited e-mails or e-mails from senders you don’t know.”

Recipients of questionable e-mails claiming to come from the IRS should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the e-mails. Instead, they should forward the e-mails to phishing@irs.gov (follow the instructions).

The IRS also sees other e-mail scams that involve tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet, a practice that is known as “phishing” for information.

The IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration work with the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and various Internet service providers and international CERT teams to have the phishing sites taken offline as soon as they are reported.

Since the establishment of the mail box last year, the IRS has received more than 17,700 e-mails from taxpayers reporting more than 240 separate phishing incidents. To date, investigations by TIGTA have identified host sites in at least 27 different countries, as well as in the United States.

Other fraudulent e-mail scams try to entice taxpayers to click their way to a fake IRS Web site and ask for bank account numbers. Another widespread e-mail tells taxpayers the IRS is holding a refund (often $63.80) for them and seeks financial account information. Still another email claims the IRS’s ‘anti-fraud commission’ is investigating their tax returns.

[Oxtrainer]

Scam

It is a scam, you can verify by calling the IRS. Do not respond, do not give them any
information at all, Nothing, Nada of any kind. If receive more e-mails like this or even
without more notify the fraud agencies. I have went thru the same thing only by Telephone
and have verified that it was a scam. In my case the callers Identified themselves as
Chase. DO NOT RESPOND you just verify your e-mail address.

[Maria]

My Client Received the Same Email

Hi,

My client received the same email during the tax season, it is scam.