New IRS Tax Refund Scam being spammed in email
As I've personally seen a couple of these recently, please note that the IRS will not contact you by email, as it's not something they capture in tax returns. Please delete these messages and do not reply to them or your personal information may be misused.
MSNBC Article - Latest 'phishing' scam lures you with tax return
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29266355/
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=202865,00.html
QUOTE: Cyber-thieves are clever crooks. They know an e-mail that looks like it’s from the IRS will get your attention. So they send out fake e-mail that says you are about to be audited or are due a big refund. Who could ignore a message like that? This is just another clever twist on the old “phishing” scam, designed by identity thieves to steal your personal information.
Right now, the most popular IRS phishing scam deals with a substantial tax refund. The wording and refund amounts vary depending on which crook sends the bogus message.
It’s very easy to determine if that e-mail really is from the Internal Revenue Service – and chances are it’s not. Here’s all you need to remember: The IRS never initiates contact with taxpayers via e-mail if it has to do with your account or private information.
“We’re not going to send you a notice out of the blue that asks for very sensitive information,” says IRS spokesman Eric Smith. “We don’t ask for your PIN and we don’t ask for passwords. That’s just not the way we do business.”