Be on the Lookout for Electronic Tax Payment E-mail Scam

The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers to be aware of a phishing e-mail scam that uses the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) as a way to lure individuals into disclosing their confidential information. The EFTPS system, currently used by more than 6 million taxpayers, allows businesses to pay all their federal taxes online or by phone.

Anyone who uses EFTPS to make their federal payments should be on the lookout for this phishing and report any suspicious e-mails. Taxpayers may e-mail information about suspicious EFTPS messages to: phishing@irs.gov. (Please be aware that the phishing@irs.gov mailbox is only for suspicious e-mails and not for general taxpayer contact or inquiries.)

According to the IRS, the EFTPS e-mail scam looks like a page from IRS.gov and claims to be from the “IRS Antifraud Comission” (sic), a fictitious group, but it is fraught with grammatical errors and typos. The bogus e-mail claims someone has enrolled the taxpayer’s credit card in EFTPS and has tried to pay taxes with it. The e-mail also says there have been fraud attempts involving the taxpayer’s bank account. The e-mail claims money was lost and “remaining founds” (sic) are blocked. Recipients are asked to click on a link that will help them recover their funds, but the subsequent site asks for personal information that the thieves could use to steal the taxpayer’s identity.

Be aware that the IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails asking for personal information, and the IRS will never ask taxpayers for PIN numbers or access information for their credit card, bank, or other financial account information.

Read more about this scam at the IRS Web site.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 REQUIRED NOTICE
IRS Regulations require that we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or for the purpose of promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or tax-related matter.