Tomah Police Department
NEWS RELEASE

Incident Type:   IRS Tax Scam
Incident Date:   April 11, 2013

General Information –

Don’t become a victim of an IRS Tax Scam.

It has been reported to the Tomah Police Department that emails, reportedly sent from the IRS,  are being received by area residents.  The emails contain information about filing your taxes with the IRS and information about money that you will receive in return.

The e-mail tells the recipient that he or she is eligible to receive a federal tax refund for a given amount  and sends the recipient to a Web site to complete a form to “submit the tax refund request.” The form then asks for the personal and financial information.

The IRS does not notify taxpayers of refunds via e-mail. Additionally, taxpayers do not have to complete a special form or provide detailed financial information to obtain a refund. Refunds are based on information contained on the federal income tax return filed by the taxpayer.

The emails and the websites that they send you to appear to be legitimate.  The practice of tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet is known as “phishing” for information.

The information fraudulently obtained by scammers is used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and then his or her financial assets. Generally, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns to obtain refunds rightfully belonging to the victim.

Recipients of questionable e-mails claiming to come from the IRS should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the e-mails. Instead, they should forward the e-mails to phishing@irs.gov  or notify Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration toll-free hotline at 1-800-366-4484. The IRS and TIGTA work with the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and various Internet service providers to have the phishing sites taken offline as soon as they are reported.

Lt. Mark Nicholson
Operations Lieutenant
Tomah Police Department

 

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