The $168 billion economic stimulus package signed into law by President Bush will send rebate checks this spring to 130 million Americans.
That's the good news. The bad news is that an aggressive phone and e-mail scam seeks to exploit the eagerness of taxpayers to receive their checks.
This fraud version has a phone caller claiming to be an Internal Revenue Service employee and telling consumers they are eligible for a tax-rebate check from the government. But to process the rebate, people are informed they will need to provide personal banking information. If they refuse to give this information, consumers are told they will not receive the money.
The IRS will not make any such phone calls, and consumers should never provide any personal information over the phone to anyone you do not know.
An e-mail version of this scam, also claiming to come from the IRS, encourages recipients to access a Web link or download and fill out an attached form to provide personal financial information. Recipients may be led to believe that failing to provide the information will knock them out of good standing with the IRS, prevent them from receiving their rebate or tax refund or even cause them to be audited.
The attachments can also contain spyware that enables the thief to steal victims' personal and financial information.
I urge Arizonans to follow these guidelines to guard against identity thieves during this year's tax season:
The only IRS Web site is http://www.irs.gov/ , and all genuine IRS Web pages begin with http://www.irs.gov/ . If you want to access the IRS via Internet, you should type this address into your browser. Do not follow links provided in an e-mail.
The IRS and the Arizona Department of Revenue do not send unsolicited tax-related e-mails to taxpayers and will never ask for personal information (such as Social Security, bank account or PIN numbers) via e-mail. If you receive an e-mail claiming to be from the IRS or Department of Revenue that asks for personal or tax-related information, you should be highly skeptical. Suspicious tax-related e-mails can be forwarded to phishing@irs.gov.
Be careful with all documents that contain personal financial or tax-related information. Scam artists are aware that mailboxes, home offices and even trash bins often contain sensitive documents during tax season. Make sure to collect your mail regularly, store all tax-related documents in a safe place and shred all documents that contain personal financial information before throwing them away.
The rebate checks will be a welcome benefit for taxpayers. Don't let the prospect of getting yours allow you to fall victim to a scam artist.
So Pass the word folks, warn those that you love to not fall for such a scam to get thier money.
