If There's Something Phishy About Your IRS Problem

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Don't let the authority of the Internal Revenue Service scare you into giving someone all your money. Many scammers prey on this fear that many taxpayers have of the IRS and use their reputation as a powerful institution to take people's money or identities. Although the IRS does have authority, power, and may be a little scary to you, they would not take money from you that is not legally due.

Every year, the taxpayers report scams to the IRS. People receive phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and other forms of notice which say they are from the IRS. However, many of these communications are not from the IRS and are actually from a scammer. People will fraudulently use the IRS name and logo in order to seem believable and then ask for personal information, bank account information, and identification information. Do not let these fake communications fool you.

This practice is known as phishing, and the aim is to get the receiver to reveal information which will allow the scammer to commit identity theft or directly take your money.

The IRS is well aware that these practices occur, and has published a list of red flags to help you identify a scam before becoming a victim. Furthermore, the IRS never initiates communications with taxpayers through e-mail, and will therefore never end a message about your tax account. If someone sends you an e-mail indicating they are from the IRS or telling you to go to an IRS website, do not reply, open attachments, or click links provided through the e-mail. Attachments could contain malicious code and links could lead you to a site asking you for information which will lead to identity theft.

If you have already received an e-mail and responded or clicked on a link, go to the IRS website and enter the term "identity theft" into the keyword search box for further information. Furthermore, if you receive other forms of communication like a phone call, fax, or letter from someone who claims to be an IRS employee and you are suspicious, you can call 1-800-829-1040 to ask the IRS if they have a legitimate need to contact you and report any phony correspondence. If you have a legitimate IRS problem, you will be able to openly work it out with the IRS and will never have to release passwords and certain secret access information.

If you think you have encountered a scheme, you can report it on the IRS website. More details about how to report phishing schemes are available under the keyword search "phishing."

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Source by Robert L. Daniel