Tax Email Scams

 

The IRS alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an email scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency's Criminal Investigation division.

The email purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Board. The email seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS warned people that the email link and attachment is a Trojan Horse, which can take over the person's computer hard drive and allow someone remote access to the computer.

The IRS urged people not to click the link in the email or open the attachment.

Similar email variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions are aimed at business taxpayers as well as individual taxpayers.

The IRS does not send out unsolicited emails or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords, or other access information for their credit card, bank, or other financial accounts.

"Everyone should beware of these scam artists," said Kevin M. Brown, Acting IRS Commissioner. "Always exercise caution when you receive unsolicited emails or emails from senders you don't know."

Recipients of questionable emails claiming to come from the IRS should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the emails. Instead, they should forward the emails to phishing@irs.gov.

The IRS categorizes any email scam that involves tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet as "phishing" for information.

The IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) work with the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and various Internet service providers and international
CERT teams to have the phishing sites taken offline as soon as they are reported.

Since the establishment of the mailbox last year, the IRS has received more than 17,700 emails from taxpayers reporting more than 240 separate phishing incidents. To date, investigations by TIGTA have identified host sites in at least 27 different countries, as well as in the United States.

Other fraudulent email scams entice taxpayers to click their way to a fake IRS Web site and ask for bank account numbers. Another widespread email tells taxpayers the IRS is holding a refund (often $63.80) for them and seeks financial account information. Still another email claims the IRS's 'anti-fraud commission' is investigating their tax returns.

More information about tax email scams.