New scam

[Yaps]

Internet Scam
12/1/2005



The Internal Revenue Service has issued a consumer alert involving a possible internet scam.

The IRS says someone is sending out an e-mail informing consumers of a "tax refund." The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link that requests personal and financial information, such as a Social Security number and credit card information.

The bogus e-mail, which claims to come from "tax [email protected]," tells the recipient that he or she is eligible to receive a tax refund for a given amount. It then says that, to access a form for the tax refund, the recipient must use a link contained in the e-mail. The link then asks for the personal and financial information.

The IRS says it will never ask for this type of information via unsolicited e-mail.

If you receive one of these bogus e-mails, delete it right away. Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax refund.

If you believe you have already been scammed, you can call the following number to report it: 1-800-366-4484.

 

[Karlynn]

Speaking of scams - I received 2 emails from my Visa credit card company - or so I thought. The email looked official, the address was the company's address. It told me that since the bank my Visa was with had merged with another bank (which they did) that I needed to go to the link and re-register on the website, with new name and password, in order to be able to pay bills online and to access my info on line. I went to the site - it looked official. It looked identical in every way to the site I had bookmarked to pay my bill online. It looked totally official. I filled out my name and then stopped. Got my card, called the 800 # on the back and asked if the 2 email I received were valid and to verify that they did come from the company. Nope - they were scams. I was in awe. Who ever developed this scam and accompaning site did a great job of duplicating the actual company's information and design. I'm still really confused as to how the scam email had a valid company @***.com email address.

So pick up the phone and check everything out when you get email asking you to "re-register" or verify your "information" etc.

 

[Ross]

Welcome to the world of Phishing. You have to pay attention to the address of the site in the address bar. Unfortunately most people don't have a clue that they're giving their info to someone in China.

 

[hensylee]

Yaps, I get that one every day and Norton catches it.

I have received some in the past from Ebay wanting to fix up my account - it, too, is a scam

Karlynn, I got a call from my credit card co wanting to check out some false charges (illegal ones because someone got my # - in Scotland, of all places). He asked me for some information and I flatly told him I didn't know who he is and he could be ANYBODY asking me these questions and I was not about to give him anything at all over the phone. He was polite, told me to look on the back of my card and call THAT number. I did and he was for real! Cleared the matter, but I ended up haveing to sign an affidavit to remove those charges. But always go by your card phone number - and always be in doubt when someone calls you, even if you have an unlisted #, which I do.