In recent
weeks, a phony e-mail claiming
to come from the IRS has been
circulating in large numbers.
The subject line of the e-mail
often states that the e-mail is
a notice of underreported
income. The e-mail may contain
an attachment or a link to a
bogus Web page directing
taxpayers to their "tax
statement." In either case, when
the recipient opens the
attachment or clicks on the
link, they download a Trojan
horse-type of virus to their
computers.
Malicious code (also known as
malware), of which the Trojan
horse is but one example, can
take over the victim’s computer
hard drive, giving someone
remote access to the computer,
or it could look for passwords
and other information and send
them to the scammer. The scammer
will then use whatever
information they gather to
commit identity theft, gain
access to bank accounts and
more.
The IRS does not send
unsolicited e-mails to taxpayers
about their tax accounts. Anyone
who receives an unsolicited
e-mail claiming to come from the
IRS should avoid opening any
attachments or clicking on any
links. People can report
suspicious e-mails they receive
which claim to come from the IRS
to a mailbox set up for this
purpose,
phishing@irs.gov. Those who
believe they may already be
victims of identity theft should
find out what do by going to the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission's
Web site,
OnGuardOnLine.gov. |