In the past I have written columns about filing your taxes with different tax preparation software. This year I have a warning that I gave you the first time a couple of years ago, but it is rearing its ugly, vicious head again. I feel that this needs to be revisited especially with some of the emails I have recently received.
If you have gotten an email from the IRS informing you that they have received your returns but want to verify, ask a few more questions, finish some unfinished part of your returns, or just want to communicate with you regarding your taxes — I have two words of counsel for you. DELETE IT!
These emails are scams which are most likely phishing. Phishing is the term that basically means someone is trying to trick you into giving them your confidential information, then using that information for personal gain, which will damage you. You could be damaged financially, in the courts, and/or most any other way that could come about through someone stealing your identity.
Recently many people have received an email from an official sounding company that “works in conjunction” with the IRS in getting you a quicker return. It may seem to be from the IRS with an official looking email like, “returns@irs.com” (Hint: the real IRS is .gov, not .com).
Here is one directly from the IRS web site: “… 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.”
Be warned, the IRS will never ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail…NEVER!
If you went to the link in that email, they would ask you for your full name, mailing address, social security number, and charge card number (red alert). Just think about it, why would the IRS need your charge account information? Right! They don’t need it, but someone who would like to use your credit would.
Now before you think, “Who is foolish enough to fall for something like that?”, the answer is many thousands of people. So don’t you be hoodwinked. The emails and the sites that they link to look very real. I give security talks showing two sites; one the actual web site of a major bank and one from a scammer. They are identical…you can be tricked so be careful!
If you have sent your returns to the IRS for a check refund and want to know when you will get your refund go to their site (www.irs.gov) and click on “Where’s My Refund?”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 6:21 am and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
