IRS WARNINGS

The IRS issued several consumer warnings on the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers' financial information in order to steal their identity and assets. When identity theft takes place over the internet, it is called phishing.

Phishing is a scam where internet fraudsters send e-mail messages to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to steal the victims identity. Current scams include phony e-mails which claim to come from the IRS and which lure the victims into the scam by telling them they are due a tax refund.

The good news is that you can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from the IRS, you can relay that e-mail to an IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov. The IRS can use the information in the suspicious e-mails you send to trace the hosting Web Site and alert authorities to help shut down the fraudulent sites.

When the IRS learns about schemes involving use of the IRS name, it tries to alert the consumers as well as authorities that can shut down the scheme. The most recent schemes are:

*Emails claiming to come from tax-refunds@irs.gov and similar variations 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 copy of the IRS web site, displayed an interactive page similar to the IRS one, however, it had been modified to ask for personal and financial information that the genuine IRS page does not require.

*A bogus IRS legger and Form W-8BEN asked non-residents to provide personal information such as account numbers, PINs, mother's maiden name and passport number. The legitimate IRS From W-8BEN, which is used by Financial Institutions to establish appropriate tax withholding for foreigh individuals, does not ask for any of this information.

To report fraud other than phishing schemes, you may report the fraudulent misuse of the IRS name, logo and forms by calling the TIGTA toll-free hotline at 1-800-366-4484.