What to do if you receive suspicious mails claiming to be from IRS.

Phishing scams are terrifying especially when they are claimed to be from internal revenue service (IRS). When we receive an e-mail from IRS, we open it, thinking that there is some important notification for us, oblivious that the mail could be some scam to steal our identity and even worse money. Although scamming has become common part of cyber world but for our own safety, it is vital to be aware of what to expect as we fish through our mails.

IRS updated its periodic alerts warning taxpayers about scams that deceptively use internal revenue services’ name, logo, or website. Though identity-theft scams may take place through e-mail, fax or phone, the recent IRS alert focuses on known e-mail schemes. “The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail to taxpayers either about their tax accounts or requesting sensitive personal and financial information,” the agency said. They warned recipients not to open attachments or click on any link in e-mails that appear to be from the IRS.

According to the IRS, IRS-impersonators often e-mail taxpayers to ask for, “certain personal and financial information to process a tax return, tax payment or refund.” They may also claim that you are being audited. The purpose of such e-mails is to obtain enough information such as a name, social security number, and bank account or credit card number in order to steal your identity.

Few of the e-mail scams to look out for, as reported by the IRS are:

• Targeting Tax Professionals - An e-mail claims to come from the IRS Tax Forums requesting that recipients register for an event for tax professionals by using an attached registration form. In reality, the IRS does not send registration forms by e-mail but makes them available instead on the Nationwide Tax Forums Website.
  
  
• Inherited Funds / Lottery Winnings / Cash Consignment-An e-mail claims to come from the U.S. Department of the Treasury notifying the recipient that they will receive millions of dollars in recovered funds, lottery winnings or cash consignment if they provide certain personal information, including phone numbers, via return e-mail. The victim is later contacted by telephone or further e-mail and instructed to deposit taxes on the funds before they can receive any of it, or they may be sent a phony check of the funds or winnings and told to deposit it but pay ten percent in taxes or fees.
  
  
• Refund Scam - A tax refund form is e-mailed, supposedly from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (a genuine and independent organization within the IRS which assists taxpayers with unresolved problems), telling recipients that they are eligible for a tax refund of a specific amount. The form asks for name, address and phone number and a substantial amount of financial information, such as bank account number, credit card number and expiration date, ATM PIN number and more. It also asks for your mother's maiden name (frequently used by many people as an account security password). At the bottom is a phony name and signature, claiming to be that of the Taxpayer Advocate. The implication is that the taxpayer must fill in and submit the form to receive a tax refund. In reality, taxpayers claim their tax refunds through the filing of an annual tax return, not a separate application form.

What to do in case you suspect a scam mail from IRS imposters
The IRS does not initiate taxpayer contact via unsolicited e-mail or ask for personal identifying or financial information via e-mail. If you receive a suspicious e-mail claiming to come from the IRS, take the following steps:

• Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
• Do not click on any links, for the same reason. Also, be aware that the links often connect to a phony IRS Web site that appears authentic and then prompts the victim for personal identifiers, bank or credit card account numbers or PINs. The phony Web sites appear legitimate because the appearance and much of the content are directly copied from an actual page on the IRS Web site and then modified by the scammers for their own purposes.
• Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine whether the IRS is trying to contact you.

Forward the suspicious e-mail or url address to the IRS mailbox phishing@irs.gov, then delete the e-mail from your inbox. In this way you are not only protecting yourself but also preventing others from being victimized from malicious mails as well.

The information has been provided by greentax2290.com, an IRS certified e file provider to e file form 2290 online. The information is provided to help prevent tax payers from falling prey to unwanted and malicious mails. For further information you can read the IRS document at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=211669,00.html