IRS Scams On The Internet - Everything You Need To Know To Protect Your Identity

Internal Revenue Service have issued consumer alerts about Internet scams in which consumers receive an e-mail informing them of a tax refund. The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link that requests personal information, such as Social Security number and credit card information. Here is Jim Trippon's comments on this fraudulent attempt to steal your identity:

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This scheme is an attempt to trick the e-mail recipients into disclosing their personal and financial data. The practice is called “phishing” for information.

The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and financial assets. Generally, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns.
The 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. The link then asks for the personal and financial information.

The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail. Additionally, taxpayers do not have to complete a special form to obtain a refund.

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail purporting to be from the IRS, take the following steps:

Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.

TaxCPAHouston.com has seen numerous attempts over the years to defraud the public and the federal government through a variety of schemes, including abusive tax avoidance transactions, identity theft, claims for slavery reparations, frivolous arguments and more.

Jim has also written a special report titled "How to protect yourself from Nancy Pelosi's plans to SkyRocket your income taxes. To get your FREE copy of this report visit: http://www.specialtaxreport.com

Call us today at 713-661-1040 and let us put our experience to work for you. Protecting your bottom line is our top priority!

 

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