Identity Theft Scam Targets Investors; E-Mail Claims To Be From The Internal Revenue Service

BY MONDEE TILLEY, MOUNT AIRY NEWS
POSTED: 9:23 am EST December 11, 2008
UPDATED: 10:46 am EST December 11, 2008

A new scam is targeting non-resident investors in the U.S. It is an e-mail message, reportedly from the IRS, that threatens to impose a 30-percent withholding tax on all income from the account if the recipient fails to disclose a great deal of confidential information.

Here is an excerpt from the e-mail message now hitting local and worldwide in-boxes:
“Our records indicate that you are a non-resident alien. As a result, you are exempted from the United States of America Tax reporting and with-holdings, on interest paid you on your account and other financial dealing to protect your exemption from tax on your account and other financial benefit in rectifying your exemption status.

“Therefore, you are to authenticate the following by completing the form W-4100B2, and return to us as soon as possible through the fax number: 1-646-731-6884.”

Sgt. Alan Freeman, a detective with the Mount Airy Police Department, said, “They seem to be targeting the Hispanic community. Whenever in doubt, seek professional advice. Call the IRS, or your local law enforcement agency. The IRS would not be sending this type of information via the Internet. They would not be asking questions about this type of information.”

Yvonne Nichols, executive assistant with the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, said she received the e-mail in her inbox recently.

“I talked to the IRS, and they said they only correspond via mail, not e-mail.”
According to the Internal Revenue Service, the agency warns taxpayers about Internet scams in which fraudulent e-mails are sent that appear to be from the IRS.
The e-mails direct the consumer to a Web link that requests personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers. The practice of tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet is known as “phishing” for information.

The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
The information fraudulently obtained by scammers is used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and then his or her financial assets. Generally, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns to obtain refunds rightfully belonging to the victim.

“Don’t be fooled by these shameless scam artists. The IRS doesn’t send unsolicited e-mail,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “Always exercise caution when you receive unsolicited e-mails or e-mails from senders you don’t know, and always verify the source.”

Last year, the IRS established an electronic mail box, phishing@irs.gov, to receive copies of possibly fraudulent e-mails involving misuse of the IRS name, logo or Web site for investigation. Since the establishment of the mail box, the IRS has received more than 17,700 e-mails from taxpayers reporting more than 240 separate phishing incidents. To date, investigations by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) have identified host sites in at least 27 different countries, as well as in the United States.

The only genuine IRS Web site is www.IRS.gov.

More information on phishing schemes and others, including abusive tax avoidance transactions, frivolous arguments and more, may be found on the Compliance and Enforcement page on this Web site. For information on preventing or handling the aftermath of identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Web site.