The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers and tax professionals of
a new email scam targeting Hotmail users that is being used to steal personal
and financial information.
The phishing email subject line reads: “Internal Revenue Service Email No.
XXXX | We’re processing your request soon | TXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX”. The email leads
taxpayers to sign in to a fake Microsoft page and then asks for personal and
financial information.
The IRS has received over 900 complaints about this new phishing scheme that
seems to exclusively target Hotmail users. The suspect websites associated with
this scam have been shut down, but taxpayers should be on the lookout for
similar schemes.
Individuals who receive unsolicited emails claiming to be from the IRS
should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and
then delete it. It is important to keep in mind the IRS generally does not
initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial
information. For more information, visit the “Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts”
page on IRS.gov.
The IRS
reminds tax professionals to be aware of phishing emails, free offers and
other common tricks by scammers. Tax professionals who have data breaches
should contact the IRS immediately through their Stakeholder Liaison. See Data
Theft Information for Tax Professionals.
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