Identity
thefts using IRS logo increase during filing season
by Mary Dalrymple - Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is raising alarms about
e mails that use the IRS logo to dupe tax payers into revealing
personal financial information.
IRS and Treasury Department officials have seen an increase this
winter in the frequency and sophistication of "phishing"
e mails, in which the recipient is led to believe the IRS is demanding
information by return e mail.
"Phishing" is an e mail fraud in which potential identity
thieves pose as banks or other institutions to get victims to reveal
personal information, such as credit card or other identifying numbers.
The scammer can then use the information to gain access to the unsuspecting
recipient's money or other valuables.
"There does seem to be a proliferation of them this filing
season," Richard Morgante, commissioner of the IRS wage and
investment division, said Monday. "We have more thieves trying
to take advantage of the filing season than we've seen in the past."
Most Americans' income tax returns must be mailed by April 17 because
April 15 is a Saturday.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which investigates
groups or individuals impersonating the IRS, found 12 separate Web
sites hosting such "phishing" schemes; they operated from
11 countries, from the United States to Aruba and Korea.
The inspector general has gotten more than 400 complaints since
the beginning of the year. The IRS has learned of about 1,500 cases
since November.
"Phishing" e mails purporting to come from the IRS often
tell taxpayers they're due a refund and direct them to a false IRS
Web site.
The communication and Web sites sometimes resemble the real thing,
but they're not, Morgante said. The IRS does not communicate with
taxpayers via e mail, nor does the IRS ask people for passwords,
personal identification numbers or other secret information about
financial accounts.
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