Well, folks, it is that time of year again, and while I am confident that most of you are hip to the fact that there is a host of ruthless scammers and crooks out there, you may have friends or relatives, or others that you care about, particularly the elderly who came of age in a different era, who could be easily taken advantage of. I wanted to post this information in case it is relevant to anyone you know.
Today I received a fraudulent scam telephone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and stating that the IRS was suing me, and I had to call right away for information. I knew it was a scam of course (as I am sure you would know too) because the IRS always uses snail mail, not cell phones or email, to inform people that there is an issue with their tax returns. I immediately reported the call to phishing@irs.gov and so should anyone you know that gets a call or message like this.
I am posting their reply because it is good information.
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This is an automatic reply from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Online Fraud Detection and Prevention (OFDP) team.
We have received your report of possible phishing or fraud. Although we review and investigate each email we receive, due to the number of incident complaints, we cannot guarantee a personal response to your message.
Please note that the IRS does not contact individuals by email. [emphasis mine]
Therefore, if you received an email claiming to be from the IRS it is a phishing attempt and should be reported to us.
Additional information on IRS phishing can be viewed here:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing
Additional information on avoiding phishing scams can be viewed here:
http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html
Additionally, please be aware of Telephone Scams. The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. Mail. The IRS never asks for credit, debit or prepaid card information over the telephone.
Please see:
https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/press/press_tigta-2015-34.htm
The IRS values your report, and encourages individuals to report future IRS phishing/fraud to phishing@irs.gov
so that we can handle these incidents and limit the number of possible victims.
To limit email volume, you will only receive one auto-response per day for any of your submissions.
Thank you for your report.
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Online Fraud Detection and Prevention (OFDP)
phishing@irs.gov
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It is sad that there are people out there who will do things like this to others, but it is tax season and I wanted you all to be aware, in case you are not already.
Peace Out,
J