According to the Internal Revenue Service, Identity Thieves are using promises of tax rebates to trick people into revealing financial and personal data, before Congress has even passed an economic stimulus package.
Some people are receiving phone calls telling them they can only receive a rebate if they provide bank account information for a direct deposit. The IRS is stressing that it does not collect information by telephone and that no bill has even been passed.
The House last week, as part of an economic stimulus package, approved tax rebates of $600 and $1,200 respectively for most individuals and couples, with another $300 per child. The Senate is now considering a slightly different version.
The IRS is also repeating past warnings of e-mails, supposedly coming from the agency, where people are asked to enter personal information on a form needed to obtain a tax refund. A new scam, it said, involves an e-mail notification that a person’s tax return will be audited with instructions to click on links to complete forms with personal and account information.
Businesses and accountants are also getting e-mails with instructions to download information on tax law changes. Clicking on these links could download “malware” onto the recipient’s computer that gives the scammer remote access to the computer hard drive.
In another telephone scam, a caller claims to be an IRS employee who says the taxpayer has not cashed a refund check and asks the person to verify his or her bank account number.
The IRS is advising people not to click on any link from an e-mail claiming to come from the tax agency. People receiving questionable e-mails can contact the IRS.
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