IRS WARNS TAXPAYERS TO BEWARE OF PHISHING SCAMS
Phishing is a scam typically carried out by unsolicited email and/or bogus websites posing as legitimate sites luring unsuspecting victims to provide personal and financial information. The IRS has recently warned consumers to watch for emails appearing to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) that include a bogus case number. The email may include the following message, “Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.” The email may contain links appearing to provide information about the “advocate” assigned to the recipient’s case but actually lead to web pages soliciting personal information.
If you receive an email claiming to be from the IRS that contains a request for personal information, do not reply to the email, open any attachments, or click on any links. Instead, forward the email to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. After forwarding the email to the IRS, delete the original email you received.
Remember-the IRS, including the TAS, does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text or any social media.
If you receive a phone call from an individual claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRS employee: (1) ask for a call back number and employee badge number, and (2) contact the IRS to determine if the caller is an IRS employee with a legitimate call, then call the IRS employee back or call us to handle it for you. If you receive a notice or letter via paper mail, contact us to help you determine if it is legitimate IRS letter. If it is a legitimate IRS letter, we can help you reply if needed. For information on How to Contact the IRS, see www.irs.gov/uac/How-to-Contact-the-IRS-1. If either the caller or letter is not legitimate, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report.shtml.