Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Be careful of IRS Tax Scams during Tax Season

Tax season is upon us and with three extra days to file your return this year, the IRS is warning against scammers that prey upon the unsuspecting. If you are preparing your tax return and searching online for the official site of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, be sure not to click on www.IRS.com by mistake. This private website is owned by Banks.com, Inc. and is not related to the governmental entity we have all grown to love.

Despite yearly warnings and stories of the unsuspecting falling prey to scams, the IRS is calling for taxpayers to be alert for predators who may attempt to contact them by e-mail, telephone, fax, or regular mail pretending to be from the IRS.

They warn that "many of these scams fraudulently use the Internal Revenue Service name or logo as a lure to make the communication more authentic and enticing." In the form of the fake IRS e-mail, this is known as phishing. The Internal Revenue Service, like all U.S. government websites, uses the ".gov" top-level domain name and can be found at www.IRS.gov.

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