Beware of Income Tax Scams, Warns Attorney General

The Attorney General Tom Corbett is warning the residents of Pennsylvania to be wary of potential scams associated to the U.S. census and the federal income taxes, as per the news published by abc27 NEWS on April 13, 2010.

According to Corbett, as the deadline to file taxes is coming closer (April 15, 2010) there have been numerous reports of scams related to tax and growing anxiety over the scams cloaked as Census surveys, across the state.

Reportedly, the message seems to be genuine, sent from website pertaining to the government. Actually, the main motive of these scams is to induce consumers to give their personal details like bank accounts and social security numbers. These procured details are further used or resold by ID thieves in order to make illegal purchases from credit cards or to steal huge amount of money from banks.

According to the Attorney General, it is easy to spot various scams as they derive from the websites having numerous spelling mistakes or other errors, as per the news published by examiner.com on April 13, 2010.

Experts commented that con artists, now-a-days, have started using real time events to gain maximum out of their malicious business.

Corbett, however, believes that understanding the way government agencies operate is the best possible way to avoid falling prey to the scams. For instance, the general masses must be aware that the IRS neither requests its customers regarding their financial account security details like the PINs from the tax payers, nor does it asks for personal credentials via e-mails.

He also stated that if any one receives an e-mail asking for account information, the user must directly contact the bank or credit card to inform about the scamming attempt and to confirm account phishing. For the purpose, victim may use the customer service hotline provided on the card or monthly statement.

According to experts, consumers who suspect that they have unintentionally disclosed personal information while responding to a scam e-mail should immediately get in touch with their credit card company or bank to prevent any illegal withdrawals or charges made to their accounts.

Experts further added that it's a must to visit the IRS website www.irs.gov, and forward wary e-mails directly to phishing@irs.gov.

Related article: Beware Cheat Website for FarmVille: Security Researchers

» SPAMfighter News - 4/15/2010