CONSUMER ALERT

MIKE COX
ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Attorney General provides Consumer Alerts to inform the public of unfair, misleading, or deceptive business practices, and to provide information and guidance on other issues of concern.

Anybody contacting you claiming to be from the IRS and asking you for personal identifying information is a crook.  Every year the IRS issues warnings about rebate or other scams being perpetrated by con artists claiming to work for the agency.  This year, the passage of a federal economic stimulus plan provided yet another opportunity for crooks to trick people into revealing personal identifying information.

The goal of these crooks is to commit identity theft, take control of personal computers, or simply duping people out of cash.  IRS scams enable con artists to get bank account information, Social Security numbers, or credit and debit card details that are then used to commit identity theft.

IRS E-MAIL SCAMS

E-mail continues to be the method of choice for IRS scams.  Common e-mail tricks used by these crooks include using:

Don't fall for any e-mail scams!  The IRS never initiates e-mails to taxpayers!

Refund E-mail.  Several variations of this bogus e-mail exist, all falsely claiming to come from the IRS and informing the recipient to click on a link to access a refund claim form that requires personal identifying information.  The crooks try to make this look legitimate by using a specific refund sum that sounds convincing (reported Michigan variations include $134.80 and $184.80).  A recent new twist is aimed at tax-exempt organizations and includes the name and a fake signature of an actual IRS employee.

The "Where's My Refund?" variation of this bogus e-mail offers track your refund and asks for your last name, Social Security Number, and credit card information.

Audit E-mail.  This bogus e-mail informs the recipient that his or her tax return will be audited.  As if the threat of an audit was not enough to get someone's attention, the e-mail may include a greeting in the body addressed to the specific recipient by name.

Tax Law Changes E-mail.  Directed at accountants and businesses, this bogus e-mail invites the recipient to download information on tax law changes. Clicking on the link downloads malware.  Malware is short for malicious software and describes software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent.  Malware can take over the victim's computer hard drive, giving someone remote access to the computer, or it could look for or record passwords or other information and send that valuable personal identifying information to the crook.

Cash Reward for Completing Online Customer Satisfaction Survey.  This e-mail purports to pay taxpayers for completing an online survey that, of course, includes questions asking for personal identifying information.

IRS PHONE SCAMS

Rebate Phone Call.  Aimed at seniors, the caller identifies himself as an IRS employee and tells the targeted victim that he is eligible for a sizable rebate for filing taxes early. The fake IRS employee states that he needs the target's bank account information for direct deposit of the rebate.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET AN E-MAIL OR PHONE CALL PURPORTING TO COME FROM THE IRS

You may not receive an individual response to your e-mail because of the volume of reports the IRS receives each day.

You may also report misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms, or other IRS property to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration toll-free at 1-800-366-4484.

BEWARE OF ADVANCE REFUND LOANS

An advance refund loan is a loan based on money you are expecting to get as a tax refund.  These loans can be legitimate but lenders charge huge rates of interest and fees. Sending your return in on time will sometimes get your money is just a few weeks, without a hefty price.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Consumers may contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at: