E-mail's a scam, not an IRS note

At first glance, the e-mail looks legitimate, with an IRS logo and other details that mimic the federal taypayers' Web site.

It's got a message designed to get your immediate attention.

"The Internal Revenue Service Antifraud Commission has found 3 fraud attempts regarding your bank account," it reads. "Due to these attempts, some of your money were lost, and your remaining founds were blocked."

"Some of your money were lost"? "Founds" instead of "funds"?

To most savvy Internet users, the misspelled words and the bad grammar would be a dead giveaway that the e-mail was not from the IRS.

But every so often, somebody thinks the e-mail is for real, clicks on the links and gets sent to a Web site that prompts them for their Social Security number, birthdate and other personal information.

Except, the Web site has nothing to do with the IRS -- it's a front for identity thieves.

The IRS has tracked at least 104 phony Web sites used to illegally "phish" for taxpayers' identity. And the months of July and August are particularly big for scams involving the IRS because many people are expecting to hear from the IRS about complicated tax returns, or bills for incomplete payment.

"There are fish-oil salesmen out there, and they are trying to get you any way they can," said IRS spokesman Bill Steiner.

For years, most of the so-called phishing scams (as in using a hook to go fishing for information) involved fraudulent credit card applications, or faked the look of banks. The latest scam looks as though it comes from the U.S. Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, a system used by nearly 6 million taxpayers to pay their federal taxes either online or on the phone, according to Steiner.

As Americans get more comfortable using the Internet for making purchases online or filing their taxes, they become more susceptible to this kind of fraud, said Steiner.

Unmasking these e-mails is simple: Under most circumstances, the IRS never contacts people by e-mail. If the IRS wants to get in touch with you, it usually sends a letter to your home address. The only way you get an e-mail from the IRS is if you've asked a question via e-mail; even then, the e-mail will never ask for personal information, according to Steiner.

In the Sacramento area, tax preparers have begun paying attention to the scams.

"Three or four times in the past month, I have gotten a memo from the IRS warning us about a new scam," said Rick Brown, a state director for the California Society of Enrolled Agents, a group of tax specialists licensed by the IRS. "There's always a certain number of people who can fall for this sort of thing."

Steiner said he couldn't reveal how many -- if any -- Sacramento-area residents have been hit by the e-mails because investigations into the scams are confidential.

But that doesn't mean the problem is nonexistent.

"Outside of tax season, I spend almost a fourth of my time dealing with this problem," he said.

Steiner knows what identity theft can do to a person. In 1995, an identity thief used his personal information to take out more than $1,000 in cash from various banks, and then filled out credit card applications in his name. As a federal tax agent, he was able to get things straightened out, but even now, he has a fraud alert attached to his credit cards for safety.

There doesn't appear to be a similar Internet scam involving state taxes, according to Patrick Hill, spokesman for the state Franchise Tax Board, who said the board's notices to taxpayers also are sent through regular mail, not e-mail.

David A. Shaw, chair of the public information wing of the state enrolled agents' group, said taxpayers need to be vigilant.

"Everyone needs to be paying attention -- otherwise these vandals are going to have your identity," he said.

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Secutity tips

With more than 100 phony IRS Web sites out there, taxpayers need to be alert to the potential for identity theft. Here are some tips:
• You will never get an e-mail from the IRS, unless you e-mail the IRS with a question. The IRS never asks for personal information via e-mail.
• If you get an e-mail directing you to a supposed IRS Web site, the address bar should read: "www.irs.gov."
• If you get an e-mail that sounds fishy, forward it to the IRS at: phishing@irs.gov. Or call the IRS at (800) 829-1040 . Do not use phone numbers listed in the e-mail.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

About the writer:

• The Bee's Mehul Srivastava can be reached at (916) 321-1052 or mehul@sacbee.com.