Beware of Fake Emails from the IRS!

Latest news from E-File Florida

07/23/2009

 The Internal Revenue Service never contacts taxpayers via email. So if you have received an email claiming to come from the IRS, chances are the email is a scam. Here's how you can recognize a fraudulent email and protect yourself:  

Identifying Scam Emails
Does the email ask for your credit card, bank account, PIN, password, or other sensitive information? "The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts." (Source: IR-2007-109) 

Common Themes in Email Scams
Email scams often trick you into thinking you have a missing refund, are under criminal investigation, refers to a nonexistent tax form, or asks for your credit card number.  Don't fall victim to this scam. Report it and then delete it!

Don't Click on Links or Open Attachments
The email probably contains links to Web sites or attachments. Do not click on those links or open any attachments. Those Web pages or attachments could contain malicious software or code designed to hijack your computer.   Forward the Email to the IRS for InvestigationYou can forward to the email to the IRS. Investigators at the tax agency will use the information contained in the emails to track down the criminals. To forward the email, make sure your email software is displaying all the headers in the message. Many email programs show only the most important headers by default. Once you are displaying all the headers, forward the fake email to phishing@irs.gov. "The IRS can use the information, URLs and links in the bogus e-mails to trace the hosting Web sites and alert authorities to help shut down these fraudulent sites." (Source: IR-2006-49) The IRS will probably not acknowledge the receipt of your email.    

Delete the Email
After forwarding the email to the IRS, delete the email. You might also want to run a scan of your computer using your antivirus or internet security program.

Contacting the IRS
If you have any concerns or questions about your taxes, you should contact the IRS directly at .  

Please feel free to contact E-File Florida  at  or visit us on the internet at www.efileflorida.com for more great tax tips and articles.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Required Notice - IRS regulations require that we inform you as follows: Any Federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction as tax related matter(s).