112th Precinct Community Council

IRS SCAM by Heidi Harrison Chain

Warning

The Internal Revenue Service issued its 2008 list of the 12 most egregious tax schemes and scams, highlighted by Internet phishing scams. The IRS explained that the IRS Phishing scams are an e-mail falsely claiming to come from the IRS. As of last week, taxpayers have forwarded more than 33,000 of these scam e-mails, reflecting more than 1,500 different schemes, to the IRS. The IRS NEVER uses e-mail to contact taxpayers about their tax issues.
The other IRS scam that was highlighted by the IRS was in regard to the rebate. Some scam artists are trying to trick individuals into revealing personal financial information that can be used to access their financial accounts by making promises relating to the economic stimulus payment, often called a “rebate.” To obtain the payment, eligible individuals in most cases will not have to do anything more than file a 2007 federal tax return. The IRS is not calling people nor sending emails about the rebate. DO NOT GIVE YOUR INFORMATION