IRS Tax Refund Phishing Scam
Netlore Archive: Fraudulent emails purporting to originate from the IRS aim to trick users into revealing personal information
Description: Email scam
Circulating since: March 2006
Status: Fraudulent
Email example contributed by Mary R., 23 Aug. 2007:
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After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $109.30. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
Comments: Beware: this is a scam. Despite the official-looking logo and links to Web pages carefully designed to fool unsuspecting users, messages like the above have one purpose only: to trick recipients into revealing personal information which can then be used to steal their identities.
According to the IRS, the agency never sends unsolicited emails to individual taxpayers, much less solicits their personal information via the Web. The phony emails and fly-by-night Websites are part of a known Internet "phishing" scam operating since 2006.
If you receive a suspicious email similar to the above, you are encouraged to forward it to investigators at the IRS at phishing@irs.gov and/or the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov. Or simply delete it. Under no circumstances should you respond to such emails with personal information of any kind.
From the IRS: How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious Emails or Phishing Scams
Sources and further reading:
Phishers Try to Reel in Taxpayers in IRS Email Scheme
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 16 August 2007IRS Email Scam Aims at Wallet
WRAL-TV News, 22 August 2007IRS Renews Email Alert Following New Scams
Internal Revenue Service, 7 July 2007How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious Emails or Phishing Scams
Internal Revenue Service,
Last updated: 08/24/07
