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The
Internal Revenue Service has issued several consumer warnings on
the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scammers trying
to gain access to consumers’ financial data in order to steal
their assets. Fraudsters may use the IRS name because most
consumers recognize it, have had prior communication with or
from the IRS (such as receiving annual tax form and instruction
packages) and have previously provided the IRS some financial
data (such as that contained on tax returns).
As a general rule,
the IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for
detailed personal information. Additionally, the IRS does not
ask people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret
access information for their credit card, bank or other
financial accounts.
Tricking consumers into disclosing their personal and financial
data, such as secret access data, credit card or bank account
numbers, is identity theft. Such schemes perpetrated through the
Internet are called “phishing” for information.
The
information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the
victim's identity and financial assets. Typically, identity
thieves use someone’s personal data to steal from 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.
Identity
theft usually causes immediate financial losses for the victims,
who may also encounter lingering credit and other problems as a
result of the identity theft.
Identity
theft schemes take numerous forms. Identity theft may be
conducted by e-mail (phishing), standard mail, telephone or
fax. Thieves may also go through trash looking for discarded tax
returns, bank records, credit card receipts or other records
that contain personal and financial information.
When the IRS
learns about schemes involving use of the IRS name, it tries to
alert consumers as well as authorities that can shut down the
scheme, if possible.
The
following are examples of recent schemes:
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e-Mails
claiming to come from [email protected], [email protected]
or other variations on the irs.gov theme told the
recipients that they were eligible to receive a tax
refund for a given amount. It directed recipients to
claim the refund by using a link contained in the e-mail
which sent the recipient to a Web site. The site,
a clone of the IRS Web site, displayed an interactive
page similar to a genuine IRS one; however, it had been
modified to ask for personal and financial information
that the genuine IRS interactive page does not require.
The
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
has reported that it found 12 separate Web sites in 11
different countries hosting variations on this scheme.
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A bogus
IRS letter and Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign
Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax
Withholding) asked non-residents to provide personal
information such as account numbers, PINs, mother’s
maiden name and passport number. The legitimate IRS Form
W-8BEN, which is used by financial institutions to
establish appropriate tax withholding for foreign
individuals, does not ask for any of this information.
To protect
against potential identity thieves, take the following steps:
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Be
skeptical of communications you receive from sources you
are not expecting. Verify the authenticity of phone
calls, standard mail, faxes or e-mails of questionable
origin before responding.
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Do not
reveal secret passwords, PINs or other security-based
data to third parties; genuine organizations or
institutions do not need your secret data for ordinary
business transactions.
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Do not
click on links contained in possibly questionable
e-mails; instead, go directly to the site already know
to be genuine. For example, the only address for the
IRS Web site is www.irs.gov — any other variations on
this will not lead to the legitimate IRS Web site.
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Do not
open attachments to e-mails of possibly questionable
origin, since they may contain viruses that will infect
your computer.
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Shred
paper documents containing private financial information
before discarding.
To report
the fraudulent misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms or other IRS
property, you may contact the TIGTA toll-free hotline at
1-800-366-4484 or visit the TIGTA Web site.
Those who
think their identity has been stolen should visit the Federal
Trade Commission’s Web site for information about how to handle
the aftermath of identity theft.
Related
Links:
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