Don't Be Scammed by the IRS
Every year, the Internal Revenue Service receives reports from taxpayers who received suspect communications claiming to be from the IRS. A majority of these scams use the IRS logo or name to trick individuals into giving away personal and financial information. The scammers receive personal information, like Social Security numbers, bank account or credit cards numbers, to commit identity theft. To avoid these scams, called phishing scams, from happening to you, there are five things the IRS would like you to know about these phishing scams. The IRS never asks for detailed personal and financial information. The IRS never initiates communication with a taxpayer through e-mail and will not send a message about a taxpayer’s account. The official IRS website is http://www.irs.gov. If on a site that seems suspect, make sure to not provide any personal information and report the site to the IRS. If someone claiming to be from the IRS contacts you and you believe that it is not an IRS employee, contact the IRS at 1-800-839-1040 to verify if the IRS has a genuine need to contact you. Details on how to provide information to the IRS to prevent others from being victimized are available at http://www.irs.gov, using the keyword “phishing.”
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A., in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
