Latest Identity Theft Scams

Coming from the IRS?

Added on 1/19/07

The latest identity theft scam is an email that appears to come from the IRS.
The email may say that you have a refund due you or that more information is needed to complete your return. In every case the email will ask you for your SS #, address and date of birth. With this information, they can now access your financial information.

The IRS will never send you an email asking you for information. They will always send you a letter and it will have one of the IRS centers as the return address.

Under no circumstances should you ever give your personal information in reply to an email that was sent to you unsolicited. Generally, it is not a good idea to supply your personal information to anyone in an email, since that email can be intercepted. If you do want to send information such a credit card numbers or SS number to someone using email, split the information up among several emails. It is almost impossible for anyone to intercept multiple emails.

The safest policy is to never supply your SS #, credit card number or date of birth in an email to anyone.