Watch out for IRS scams this tax season

Posted by: linswritings on: February 16, 2011

• In: Current Events
• 2 Comments

Recently, IRS scams seem to ramp up every tax season. Unfortunately, most people fall victim to these scams. Whether it is in the mail, e-mail or even a phone call, remember never give out your personal information until you verify.

A Denver resident almost got caught up in this IRS scam when she received a fake IRS e-mail. Everything in the e-mail looked legit. It had their logo on it and the e-mail said that they were tracking her fiscal year and that she would be receiving a refund in the amount of $618.19. She had to download a form to receive her refund. However, she has great virus protection program and when she tried to download the form her program popped up saying, “Dangerous! Virus attached. Do not open.” That is when she knew it was a scam.

According to the Better Business Bureau they say every year they see scam levels spike right around tax season. Many people are expecting things to come to them from the IRS, so when they receive information from them they take it seriously. However, scammers know this and can’t wait to get your personal information and your money.

Here are some tips to make sure that you don’t get scammed. First the URL from the IRS should have “.gov” at the end of their address – nothing after it, like “.gov.com” or “.gov.org”. These are bogus e-mail addresses that you should delete immediately.

Make sure the IRS symbol on the e-mail or letter is identical to that of the IRS and that it says “Internal Revenue Service.” You can look it up on their web site at IRS.gov. Finally, if you still can’t figure out if it is real or not, just call the IRS. Did you know that the IRS has a record of every phone call, letter and e-mail it sends out? So, if they are trying to get in touch with you, they are the ones that can verify the contact information. Remember, as President Ronald Reagan used to say, “trust but verify.”