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9/16/2009

Lexington, KY - The con artists never seem to run out of ideas. They like to use the names of well-known companies and even government agencies in e-mails to trick people in to giving up their personal information, money or even control of their computers. And now there's yet another e-mail phishing scam going around using the name of the IRS.

Look at the latest of these "phishing" scams to come into your Better Business Bureau:

Taxpayer ID: heatherbbb-00000174073547US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)
Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):
review tax statement for taxpayer id: heatherbbb-00000174073547US
Internal Revenue Service

It uses the name of the Internal Revenue Service. We've seen similar ones before, but this one is different. This one states that it concerns unreported or underreported income. It offers a link to follow where you can supposedly review your tax statement.

We followed it. It then takes you to another page that looks real, urging you to click on the link to download your statement.

Stop right there. It is an executable file that could cause any number of problems for you. A BBB in Florida reports that a company there clicked on it and next thing they knew, their bank accounts had been infiltrated and a batch transfer was taken out and sent to a list of unknown banks and accounts. What a mess.

The key thing to remember….the IRS does NOT contact taxpayers via e-mail for anything like this. Con artists use the IRS name hoping people will trust any links given….

If you receive an e-mail phishing scam like this, don't fall for it!

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Be a "Don’t Fall for It!" informant! If you have something to share you believe may be a fraudulent offer or scam, please let the BBB know! Call us at (859) 259-1008 or toll-free, 1-800-866-6668, or email us at info@bluegrass.bbb.org.