CONSUMER SAFETY TIP

Special Advisory: IRS EMAIL SCAM

There is a new Email scam that has surfaced involving criminals purporting to be the Internal Revenue Service. The fraudulent Email tells the recipient that they have been randomly selected to participate in a survey. The Email falsely promises that if you participate in the survey, the IRS will credit your account $80.00. The IRS “copyright statement” and “logo” appear at the bottom of the Email.

The survey requests the participant’s name, phone number and credit card information. Once the criminals have obtained this information, they will call the participant and “phish” for other personal and financial information.

The objectives of this scam are to use the participant’s personal information and financial data to withdraw funds from the victim’s bank account, run up charges on the credit card, or take out loans in the victim’s name.

Consumers should be aware that the IRS does not send unsolicited Emails. The IRS will never ask for PIN numbers, passwords, or secret access information for credit card, bank, or other financial accounts.

If you receive one of these fraudulent Emails that appear to come from the IRS, do not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the Email. Forward the Email to phishing@irs.gov.

This consumer safety tip advisory is presented by Dixon Foster, Security Officer at Bank of Lancaster.