IRS Scam

Like so many others, I use the computer for just about everything. I'm not that savvy to know correct computer words or to even care unless they pertain to me in a way I will remember.

I filed my own taxes a couple of days ago and used e-file, so I am expecting a reply from the IRS. Well, boy did I ever receive one! Following is the email I received:

From:"Internal Revenue Service" Subject:Tax Refund NotificationDate:Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:12:02 -0800

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $9950.55. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-3 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund, please click here
Note: For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time. Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.

Regards Internal Revenue Service.

© Copyright 2008, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Did you notice anything in the header that would clue you in that this is a spoof? The biggest giveaway is the IRS a Federal GOVERNMENT agency does not work on WEEKENDS especially Sunday! Although you might not have thought twice about the web address (but since I am a frequent visitor it didn't look right.), the address is irs.gov not at gov.com. That's a really small thing no one would probably think twice about. Let me tell you though, I forwarded this email to the IRS phishing site. The IRS does not contact you to let you know you have a refund by email. If there is a discrepancy one way or the other you will get a letter mailed to you. Why? Usually they don't have easy access to your email address. Let me tell you though, I seriously doubt anyone could make a $9,000 mistake. If you did the government would be fining you for overpayment and yes, they can fine you for overpayment in certain circumstances just like underpayment. There is a saying about never being happy, well it certainly applies!

Someone has certainly put my email on a list. In the last two to three months I have "won" more lotteries than I can remember. I am the poorest rich person I know. Some of the lotteries are "from" the UK. The ones today were from Apple and Microsoft. I laughed so hard because I had to contact the same person, same address and same phone number for both lotteries. Gee, do you think I should give them my information to claim my prize? There are even emails from someone in another country who put money in a bank account that is being used against the US and they want me to claim I am a beneficiary of the person who put the money in the account and that person is now dead. I didn't tell you my favorite scam- my cousin in UK, with a specific address, has passed away and I am the only relative they could find, please fill out government paperwork and return asap because there is a probate limit. This was signed by an attorney over in Great Britain. My only problem with this email was if it was an attorney he needed to go back to grammar school to learn basic spelling. The dialect (not sure that's the right word) was not quite right for the UK. It could have passed but it wasn't proper - kind of like my English, but you know a lawyer wouldn't have made such simple mistakes.

All I can say is the best thing to do is to be careful before you open your emails and keep a good updated virus protector on your computer. We all need money but what is the chance of it falling into our laps? Besides, don't you have to play lotteries to win them?

Now that tax season is here if you receive any type of email from the IRS call them before you open it. The phone number is 800-829-1040. Trust me, the government will not notify you of such a big refund and they certainly don't send emails on the weekend. Do they even have your email address? They only send official looking letters through the post office to scare you.