IRS warns of e-mail scam
ATLANTA — The Internal Revenue Service has discovered a new scam that empties bank accounts by trying to get eager stimulus check recipients to give vital banking information over the Internet, officials said.
Mark Green, an IRS spokesperson, said Wednesday that an alert person received an e-mail Tuesday purportedly from the IRS asking the recipient to click a link and fill in their banking information to have their forthcoming economic stimulus checks directly deposited into their accounts.
Green said that the person notified the IRS and that agency is working with other federal agencies to track down the source of the scam.
“We don’t send out e-mails,” Green said. “So that kills it right there.”
Green said that the e-mail also contains typographical and grammatical errors that should send red flags to taxpayers.
The e-mail claims that the recipient has until May 10 to sign up for direct deposit to avoid having their economic stimulus checks delayed by being mailed, Green said.
In addition to the threat to a person’s banking information, the scam could also open unsuspecting people up for scammers to gain access to other vital information stored on the hard drives of the victim’s computer, Green said.
“Someone could easily click on the link in the e-mail and, with technology as advanced as it is, could have their whole hard drive compromised,” Green said.
The scam is the latest attempt by criminals to exploit the government’s stimulus check program.
Green said that if anyone receives an e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, they should delete it immediately and notify the IRS
