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Home > Archive > Mar 20, 2008

Public Warned of Tax Rebate Scams
By Southern Utah Focus
Brent Hall, of HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors, is warning the public to be aware of tax rebate scams making their way around the country, including Utah.
"The Internal Revenue Service recently warned taxpayers to beware of several current e-mail and telephone scams that use the IRS name as a lure,” Hall stated in a press release. Specifically, taxpayers are cautioned to be on the lookout for scams involving the planned federal tax rebate checks.
The goal of the scams is to trick people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security number and bank account or credit card numbers, which the scammers can use to commit identity theft.
Hall described the most recent scams brought to the attention of the IRS.
At least one scheme using the word “rebate” as part of the lure has been identified. In this scam, consumers receive a phone call from someone identifying the caller as an IRS employee. The caller tells the targeted victim that he is eligible for a sizable rebate for filing his taxes early. The caller then states that he needs the target’s bank account information for the direct deposit of the rebate. If the target refuses, he is told that he cannot receive the rebate.
“This phone call is a scam,” Hall warned. “The IRS does not force taxpayers to use direct deposit. Those who opt for direct deposit do so by completing the appropriate section of their tax return, with bank routing and account information when they file; the IRS does not gather the information by telephone.”
Hall said The IRS has seen several variations of a refund-related bogus e-mail that falsely claims to come from the IRS. The e-mail tells the recipient that he or she is eligible for a tax refund for a specific amount and instructs the recipient to click on a link in the e-mail to access a refund claim form. The form asks the recipient to enter personal information, which the scammers can then use to access the e-mail recipient’s bank or credit card account.
“This e-mail is a phony,” Hall stated. “The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail about tax account matters to individual, business, tax-exempt or other taxpayers.”
Hall said other recent scams include an e-mail threatening the taxpayer with an audit, an e-mail with a link to access information about tax law changes, and a phone call requesting bank direct-deposit information because a paper refund check has not been cashed.
These e-mails are all fraudulent, Hall stated.
“The IRS does not send unsolicited, tax-account-related e-mails to taxpayers. Also, the URL (Internet address) contained in the links are not legitimate IRS Web addresses,” he said. “All IRS government Web page addresses begin with http://www.irs.gov/.”
Finally, the IRS leaves it entirely up to the individual to choose to cash or not cash a paper check and does not ask for bank account or similar information except when taxpayers indicate on their tax return that they are opting for the direct electronic deposit of their refund, Hall stated.
Hall warned taxpayers not to respond to any of these e-mails by clicking on a link contained in the e-mail.
“Anyone wishing to access the IRS Web site should initiate contact by typing the IRS.gov address into their Internet address window rather than clicking on a link in an e-mail or opening an attachment,” he advised.
Hall said those who receive a questionable e-mail claiming to come from the IRS may forward it to a mailbox the IRS has established to receive such e-mails: phishing@irs.gov. Those who have received a questionable telephone call that claims to come from the IRS may also use the phishing@irs.gov mailbox to notify the IRS of the scam.
For more information on how to fight tax refund scams and about the IRS tax rebates, visit the company’s Web site at www.hintonburdick.com. Other helpful tax tips can also be found on the site.

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