01/21/2009 a Phishing scam that has gone out in the past, has gone out again today. Recipients assume this is connected to an Obama stimulus plan. A Phishing scam is an attempt to get a person to reveal personal information to what appears to be a legitimate requester.
Although it appears this e-mail comes from the IRS, the address line shows it
is coming from "www.ieaf.esxxxxxx". No where in the address line
do you see irs.gov which you would expect to see if it truly came from the IRS.
The recipient is asked to provide personal information i.e. SSN, 2007
tax information and their Debit card number. On the IRS's actual
sight there is a section where one can find the amount of the
Recovery Rebate they received in 2008. The sight does request
your SSN, your 2007 filing status and the number of exemptions you took
in 2007. It DOES NOT ask you for your debit card number!
A variation on the above scam has also been reported. The e-mail
advises the recipient that direct deposit is the fastest and easiest
way to receive their economic stimulus tax rebate. The message contains
a hyperlink to a fraudulent form which requests the recipient's
personally identifiable information, including bank account
information. To convince consumers to reply, the e-mail warns that a
failure to complete the form in a timely manner will delay the issuance
of the rebate check.
Consumers are advised that the IRS does not initiate taxpayer
communications via e-mail. In addition, the IRS does not request
detailed personal information via e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN
numbers, passwords, or similar secret access information for their
credit card, bank, or other financial accounts.
Please be cautious of unsolicited e-mails. It is recommended not to
open e-mails from unknown senders because they often contain viruses or
other malicious software. It is also recommended to avoid clicking
links in e-mails received from unknown senders as this is a popular
method of directing victims to Phishing websites.
For more information go to the FBI E-Scams and Warning page