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Recognizing and Avoiding IRS Phishing E-mails

It's tax season again!!! As might be expected, e-mail users are beginning to see the first stages of what is expected to be a phishing attack capitalizing on the populace's eager expectation of IRS refund checks, as well as the Obama Administration's economic stimulus payment distribution, scheduled to begin April 2009.

What to look for in a Phishing Attack

  • The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) logo at the top of the message copied directly from the IRS website.
  • The e-mail report may be from "service@irs.gov", "taxrefund@irs.gov", "admin@irs.gov" or "refund@irs-us.gov" and have a subject line referencing a stimulus payment or notice.
  • The e-mail may state "Over 130 million Americans will receive refunds as part of President Barack Obama's program to jumpstart the economy." Or, "Our records indicate that you are qualified to receive the 2009 Economic Stimulus Refund," or some variation along these lines.

Things to Remember

  • The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail.
  • The IRS does not request detailed personal information through e-mail.
  • The IRS does not send e-mails requesting your PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.

IF you receive an e-mail or find a Web site you think is pretending to be the IRS:

  • Forward the e-mail or Web site URL to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
    • You can forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help them locate the sender.

If you receive an e-mail or find a Web site that you think is pretending to be the IRS:

  • Do not reply.
  • Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
  • Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing web site and entered confidential information, visit the IRS Identity Theft page.
  • After you forward the e-mail or header information, delete the message.

For more information, please visit the IRS Phishing website.