I want to warn everyone that there is yet another scam out there trying to: steal your identity, get access to your personal information, take over your computer – whatever. I received an email that is obviously a scam this evening. The scam subject line reads:
Tax refund payment recieved (request #00000732440)
(note the incorrect spelling of ‘received’ in that subject line – the first clue that this is a scam – seems as though scammers have just never caught on as to how to spell or use spell check effectively)
the body of the email is:
You are receiving this notification because your tax refund request has been processed. Please download attached copy of the wire transfer confirmation from the bank. Transaction type : Tax Refund Payment method : Wire transfer Amount : $ 3111.00 Status : Processed Form : 61671V Additional information regarding tax refunds can be found on our website: http://www.irs.gov/Refunds. Regards, Internal Revenue Service Address: 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20224 Website: http://www.irs.gov Phone: 1-800-829-1040 looks impressive doesn't it? if you get this you'd be all excited wouldn't you - hey, who wouldn't? you know you weren't supposed to get a refund from the IRS, but you could certainly use an extra $3111, right? ok, so now let's dissect this scam - A) the IRS does NOT wire money to individuals (or companies, or, well, anyone) B) NOBODY uses the 'http://' in their url address any more - even the IRS - well, i should clarify, only those trying to scam others use that C) they say: 'download the attached copy of the wire transfer confirmation from the bank - really guys?? 'the bank' - what 'bank'? Wells Fargo? Chase? Comerica?? The IRS doesn't use a BANK - the checks (again, NOT wire transfers) come from the Department of the Treasury - NOT A BANK D) at the end, 'Regards, Internal Revenue Service' - SERIOUSLY????? Regards?!?!?!?!?! finally, my absolute favorite part of this scam HAS to be 'Form: 61671V' - huh? What the H*** kind of form is THAT? Where do they get this stuff? How drunk were they when they were writing it? seriously - google 'irs forms' and try to find one with 61671V in it - even better, go to irs.gov (no, they don't monitor who uses their site, i promise) and search for this form - it doesn't exist. The good folks at 'scam university' must be smoking some serious stuff to put one of these emails together. needless to say, do NOT attempt to open the 'zip' attachment - the reason they use a 'zipped' attachment (this is a compressed file) is that some virus scanners can't scan inside these and the virus would have a better chance of getting through to your computer. on another note: one of my clients called today to tell me there is yet another telephone call scam going around where they try to scare you into buying a prepaid debit card by telling you they are sending the sheriff, or filing a lawsuit against you for non payment of taxes - (thanks, DM) - folks, the IRS wouldn't use the sheriff for something like this - they have federal marshals! they don't file a civil lawsuit, they can levy your bank account and garnish your wages - sheriff?? lawsuit??? seriously, people, if you are going to try to scam someone by claiming to be the IRS, learn about the IRS!!!! Don't fall for the scams - if you get a call, if you get an email, whatever, if you aren't 100% certain if it is a scam - CALL ME - EMAIL ME - i will help - whether you are a client or a potential client, i will help you determine the validity of the communication, supposedly from the IRS. don't fall victim to a scam!