Finally! I'm getting a tax refund this year. Or so it says in this email from the IRS. All I have to do is ... wait a minute! ... give them my social security number and bank account information?
Hold on, can't they just grab that from my tax return?
Sound familiar? If so, I hope you didn't give up the information. That email promising you the refund is undoubtedly a phishing message, ranking No. 3 in the Top 12 scams the IRS expects to see this year.
So far this year, more than 53 million electronic returns have been filed, up 6 percent from last year. That's good news for maximizing efficiency at the IRS, and also good news for phishers, who use the Internet -- especially during online primetimes like Christmas, Valentine's Day, tax day, and Mother's Day -- to cast for victims.
By the way, the IRS insists it will never send you an email requesting any action or personal
information -- the most it will do is confirm receipt of your return.
But how are we supposed to know that, unless we keep up with the IRS news releases? I don't know about you, but tracking IRS news releases usually doesn't make the cut on my "to do" list.
Phishing is up overall. Gartner Group estimates that more than 109 million Americans received phishing messages in 2006 -- double the number from 2005 -- resulting in losses of $2.8 billion.
The crooks mainly pretend to be financial institutions, but have expanded their scope to imitate smaller banks and credit unions, online retailers, social networking sites, and even electronic greeting cards. Makes sense -- you trust friends and family more than your bank, right?
Scary stuff. But you don't need to go underground and stop using the Internet. Some common sense and a few free tools can do wonders.
First, be wary. If it sounds too good to be true (or too nasty to be true), it probably is. Verify the request with a phone call or a separate visit to the actual Website (don't click on the link in the email).
Second, arm yourself. Iconix offers a free service that marks legitimate messages with an icon in your inbox. It works for most popular email programs and marks messages from nearly 400 senders, including the major banks and online retailers. Microsoft also offers an anti-phishing tool as part of Internet Explorer 7 -- it scans Websites you're visiting and will give you a green/yellow/red indication regarding the safety of the site.
Have a safe tax season -- and may all your refunds be real!
On the Web
IRS Advisory Links:
IRS Warns of Cybersquatters
Susan Koeppen - Tax scams to guard against
Scams that Happened Last Year
IRS reports 'phishing' scam
'Phishing' Season For Tax Scammers
