l s

Monday, January 05, 2009

IRS phishing scam

This is important enough to spread as far as you can. Feel free to pass it on. Snopes.com reports that an email has been circulating, supposedly from the IRS, requesting recipients to download a form to fill out in order to receive a stimulus check from the government. It's a scam. The IRS doesn't contact you by email. Opening the attachment (or any from an unknown source) can be like opening a can of worms--or viruses--or other Internet nasty. Here's the IRS page with details on how to report a phishing email or Web site.

I have found Snopes.com to be highly reliable in exposing scams and false reports on the Web for many years. When in doubt, I always check Snopes. The other day I had an email claiming that do-not-call lists for cell phones would expire the first week in January. I checked Snopes--not so. It's good to have them doing the research and looking out for us.

Labels: , ,

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Everybody beware! There is an IRS scam in the works. I mean more than just the very existence of the IRS. That particular IRS scam is an egregious one. All that said, I mean the IRS email scam. People get an email from the IRS, with a notice of unreported income. There is no way this would happen. For one, the IRS doesn't email, and for two, if there was an unclaimed portion of your return they'd just send you a check. It asks for your credit card number. Don't buy into the IRS scam (the email one – not just the very existence of the agency) or you'll need online cash loans to undo the damage.

1:55 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home