I had gotten an email stating that I was to receive a tax refund of $129.72, seemingly from the IRS. The link went to a page identical in every way to the IRS site. I got suspicious when the page requesting my information had a spot for credit card number, 3 digit code and issuing bank. Why would the IRS want a credit card number? Besides, I'd already filed.
Turns out the IRS has that on their home page:
Quote:
The IRS has seen several variations of a refund-related bogus e-mail which falsely claims to come from the IRS, tells the recipient that he or she is eligible for a tax refund for a specific amount, and instructs the recipient to click on a link in the e-mail to access a refund claim form. The form asks the recipient to enter personal information that the scamsters can then use to access the e-mail recipient’s bank or credit card account.
In a new wrinkle, the current version of the refund scam includes two paragraphs that appear to be directed toward tax-exempt organizations that distribute funds to other organizations or individuals. The e-mail contains the name and supposed signature of the Director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations business division.
This e-mail is a phony. The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail about tax account matters to individual, business, tax-exempt or other taxpayers.
Filing a tax return is the only way to apply for a tax refund; there is no separate application form. Taxpayers who wish to find out if they are due a refund from their last annual tax return filing may use the “Where’s My Refund?” interactive application on this Web site, IRS.gov. The only official IRS Web site is located here at www.irs.gov.
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I went to the real IRS site, saw the above and deleted the email, only to find out that the IRS would like all phishing IRS scams to be forwarded. Oh well...
If anyone gets what looks to be a legitimate email from the IRS, know that they never initiate emails, never ask for CC information or other personal information. They suggest that if anything comes looking legit, type in
www.irs.gov instead of clicking on a provided link. The phony looks identical in every way to the IRS site with one glaring omission-there's no news page revealing the scam.
Hopefully, this will show up, but this is the link to the phony page:
http://www.charlie-colop.com.mx/sopo...=96596,00.html This is the link to the real:
http://www.irs.gov/index.html