IRS Warns of Fake Emails and Phone Calls

The February 24, 2014 IRS Tax Tip warns of scammers who send emails or make phone calls in attempt to get your personal information.  Be aware that the IRS will never ask you for personal information through email or over the phone.

Here’s advice from the IRS on what to do if you ever find yourself in these situations:

If you get this type of ‘phishing’ email, the IRS offers this advice: 

• Don’t reply to the message. 
• Don’t open any attachments or click on any links. They may have malicious code that will infect your computer. 
• Don’t give out your personal or financial information.
• Forward the email to phishing@irs.gov. Then delete it.

If you get an unexpected phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS:

• Ask for a call back number and an employee badge number.
• If you think you may owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS employees can help you.
• If you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to think that you do, call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484 to report the incident.
• You should also report it to the Federal Trade Commission by using their “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint

See www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom for full details.

Truck Services of North America works to help you stay informed of situations that may affect you. For more information about any of our other services, contact us at TSNAmerica.com, email support@TSNAmerica.com or call 803.386.0320.

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Beware of Email Scams

We have received inquiries from some of our clients about suspicious emails from the IRS regarding their Federal Tax Payment.  Please note the IRS DOES NOT communicate payment information through email.

These emails may seem to some as legit, they come from support@irs.gov and the physical address they have listed: Internal Revenue Service

   Metro Plex 1

   8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 300

   Landover, MD  20785

IS an actual IRS office.  But these emails are scams.  The email directs recipients to a bogus link for a transaction report that, when clicked, downloads malicious software (malware) that infects the intended victim’s computer. The malware is designed to send back to the scammer personal and financial information already contained on the taxpayer's computer or obtained through capturing keystrokes. The scammer uses this personal and financial information to commit identity theft.

See the email below received from one of our customers:

Your federal Tax transaction (ID: 1585160020943), recently initiated from your bank account was returned by your financial institution.

Rejected Tax Transfer

Tax Transaction ID:    1585160020943

Reason of rejection    See details in the report below

FederalTax Transaction Report    tax_report_1585160020943.doc (Microsoft Word Document) 

Internal Revenue Service, Metro Plex 1, 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 300, Landover, MD 20785

Remember, the IRS DOES NOT communicate payment information through email.
If you should receive this email or anything that you believe it a scam, DO NOT click on any links or open any attachments.  Do not reply, instead forward the email to phishing@irs.gov and then DELETE the email.

For more information see: http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=179820,00.html

We at Truck Services of North America want to keep you informed and protected against the scams out there.  Let others know, so they are aware that these emails are NOT from the IRS.

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