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Be wary of
promises to avoid paying taxes. There is no secret formula that can eliminate a
persons tax obligations.
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E-mail from U.S. Department of the Treasury notifying
them that they will receive millions of dollars in
recovered funds or lottery winnings or cash consignment
if they provide certain personal information, including
phone numbers.
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Receive an IRS form, the
W-8BEN, requesting detailed personal and
financial information (genuine Form W-8BEN is filed with
their financial institutions, not with the IRS).
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E-mail, indicates you will receive a tax refund if you
click on a link and complete a form for a tax refund.
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Threatens consequences for not responding to the
e-mail, such as additional taxes or blocking access to
the recipients funds.
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Uses incorrect grammar or odd phrasing (many of the
e-mail scams originate overseas and are written by
non-native English speakers).
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Uses a really long address in any link contained in the
e-mail message or one that does not start with the
actual IRS Web site address (www.irs.gov).
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IRS employee calls about your receiving economic
stimulus payments/rebate/tax refund but needs your
Social Security and bank account numbers or click on a
link, fill out a form for direct deposit of the payment.
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Filing a tax return is the
only way to apply for a tax refund; there is no separate
application form.
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E-mail notifies the
recipient that his or her tax return will be audited,
ignore it, IRS doesn't send emails.
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E-mail addressed to
businesses, accountants and Treasury managers. The
instructs them to click on a series of links to
publications; this will probably download malware to your
computer.
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IRS employee calls because
they sent you a check and it has not been cashed, asks for
your bank
account number so they can take care of it.
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You are eligible to receive a tax refund, is a fake
notification.
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Receive money for
participating in an online customer satisfaction survey.
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Uses the Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax
Payment System (EFTPS) as a hook to lure individuals
into disclosing their personal information.
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Tax refund e-mails can
look legitimate, some have IRS logo images and signature
images and a footer at the bottom of the mail along the
lines of 'Copyright 2008, Internal Revenue Service
U.S.A. and other information such as notification from
IRS.
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Don't get curious
if you come across one of the type e-mails listed above. DO NOT click.
Just clicking on a link is enough for you to become a victim of
ID theft.
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Audit e-mails
employs a scare tactic, rather than
the promise of money. Taxpayers receive an e-mail
warning that their federal tax return will be audited.
