[Stitcher]

Beware of bogus IRS e-mails

Identity theft » The agency (IRS) does not ask for personal information via the Web.
By Lesley Mitchell

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 01/13/2009 09:48:00 PM MST
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_11445526


As tax season approaches, the IRS is warning taxpayers to watch out for a slew of authentic-looking yet bogus e-mails from scamsters asking for personal information in the name of the agency.

The latest e-mail, under the address stimulus.payment@irs.gov, states, "After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online form in order to process it."

But IRS spokesman Bill Brunson said the IRS doesn't send e-mails to taxpayers asking for their personal information.

"We're not going to send an unsolicited e-mail to a taxpayer requesting information we already know about them, such as a Social Security number," he said.

Although generally fake e-mails are easy to spot, scam artists are producing more official-looking ones designed to get people to part with data that could end up harming them financially.

"People do fall for these, unfortunately," said Brunson.

Once the crooks have the information, such as a taxpayer's name, Social Security number or address, they will attempt to steal their identities and rack up fraudulent purchases. In other cases, scam artists are after your personal identification numbers or other information used to gain access to bank accounts and other financial assets.

Brunson said anyone receiving an e-mail from

someone who claims to work for the IRS, should not reply, and that includes clicking on any links or opening any attachments.

The agency also requests taxpayers forward such e-mails to phishing@irs.gov.

Salt Lake Tribunelesley@sltrib.com

For information about bogus e-mails
Go to IRS.gov and click on "phishing and e-mail scams"