Cyber-thieves are clever crooks. They know an e-mail that looks like it’s from the IRS will get your attention. So they send out fake e-mail that says you are about to be audited or are due a big refund. Who could ignore a message like that?
This is just another clever twist on the old “phishing” scam, designed by identity thieves to steal your personal information.
Right now, the most popular IRS phishing scam deals with a substantial tax refund. The wording and refund amounts vary depending on which crook sends the bogus message.
Albert Allpress of Bremerton, Wash., is one of the many people who received this e-mail and sent it to me. “It’s real tempting when you see $869 and all you have to do is fill out this form,” he says. Allpress was skeptical, even though the e-mail had the real IRS logo at the top of it.