CONSUMER ALERT
MIKE COX
ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Attorney General provides Consumer Alerts to inform the
public of unfair, misleading, or deceptive business practices, and to provide
information and guidance on other issues of concern.
IRS SCAMS
IRS Will Never Ask for Taxpayers'
Personal Information by Phone or in E-mails
Anybody contacting you claiming to be from the IRS and asking
you for personal identifying information is a crook. Every year the IRS
issues warnings about rebate or other scams being perpetrated by con artists
claiming to work for the agency. This year, the passage of a federal
economic stimulus plan provided yet another opportunity for crooks to trick
people into revealing personal identifying information.
The goal of these crooks is to commit identity theft, take
control of personal computers, or simply duping people out of cash. IRS
scams enable con artists to get bank account information, Social Security
numbers, or credit and debit card details that are then used to commit identity
theft.
IRS E-MAIL SCAMS
E-mail continues to be the method of choice for IRS scams.
Common e-mail tricks used by these crooks include using:
- the official IRS logo,
- whole sections of text from the IRS's website,
- a fake "from" address (reported Michigan variations include
irs@getrefundnow.com,
support@irs.gov,
service@irs.jg.gov,
tax-refunds@irs.gov and other
variations on the irs.gov theme),
forms with numbers similar to those the IRS already uses, often with a
jumble of numbers and letters.
Don't fall for any e-mail scams! The IRS never initiates
e-mails to taxpayers!
Refund E-mail. Several variations of this bogus
e-mail exist, all falsely claiming to come from the IRS and informing the
recipient to click on a link to access a refund claim form that requires
personal identifying information. The crooks try to make this look
legitimate by using a specific refund sum that sounds convincing (reported
Michigan variations include $134.80 and $184.80). A recent new twist is
aimed at tax-exempt organizations and includes the name and a fake signature of
an actual IRS employee.
The "Where's My Refund?" variation of this bogus e-mail offers
track your refund and asks for your last name, Social Security Number, and
credit card information.
Audit E-mail. This bogus e-mail informs the
recipient that his or her tax return will be audited. As if the threat of
an audit was not enough to get someone's attention, the e-mail may include a
greeting in the body addressed to the specific recipient by name.
Tax Law Changes E-mail. Directed at accountants and
businesses, this bogus e-mail invites the recipient to download information on
tax law changes. Clicking on the link downloads malware. Malware is short
for malicious software and describes software designed to infiltrate or damage a
computer system without the owner's informed consent. Malware can take
over the victim's computer hard drive, giving someone remote access to the
computer, or it could look for or record passwords or other information and send
that valuable personal identifying information to the crook.
Cash Reward for Completing Online Customer Satisfaction
Survey. This e-mail purports to pay taxpayers for completing an online
survey that, of course, includes questions asking for personal identifying
information.
IRS PHONE SCAMS
Rebate Phone Call. Aimed at seniors, the caller
identifies himself as an IRS employee and tells the targeted victim that he is
eligible for a sizable rebate for filing taxes early. The fake IRS employee
states that he needs the target's bank account information for direct deposit of
the rebate.
Paper Check Phone Call.
In this telephone scam, a fake IRS employee
indicates the IRS sent a check that has not been cashed and the IRS needs to
verify the individual's bank account number. The only way the IRS collects
your bank account details is if you choose to put them in your tax return.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET AN E-MAIL OR PHONE CALL PURPORTING TO
COME FROM THE IRS
If you know the e-mail or call purports to be from the IRS,
don't open the e-mail or answer the phone. You may forward e-mails to
phishing@irs.gov, the address
established by the IRS to receive, track, and shut down these scams.
Detailed instructions for how to send the e-mails are in the IRS's publication
"How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails or Phishing Schemes" available
at:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=155344,00.html
You may not receive an individual response to your e-mail
because of the volume of reports the IRS receives each day.
You may also report misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms, or
other IRS property to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
toll-free at 1-800-366-4484.
Also remember that the only genuine IRS website is
www.irs.gov.
You should never get to this site using a link embedded into an e-mail, instead
enter the address in your browser. A website embedded into an e-mail can easily
take you to a fake site.
BEWARE OF ADVANCE REFUND LOANS
An advance refund loan is a loan based on money you are
expecting to get as a tax refund. These loans can be legitimate but
lenders charge huge rates of interest and fees. Sending your return in on time
will sometimes get your money is just a few weeks, without a hefty price.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Consumers may contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection
Division at:
Consumer Protection Division
P.O. Box 30213
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-1140
Fax: 517-241-3771
Toll free: 877-765-8388
www.michigan.gov/ag (online complaint
form)
Printer Friendly
Text Version 
Email Page
