A recent article in foxbusiness.com featured the latest scam about tax filing. Bonnie Lee, owner of Taxpertise in Sonoma, CA and the author of the book, “Taxpertise, The Complete Book of Dirty Little Secrets and Hidden Deductions for Small Business that the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know,” wrote that she has received emails from various sources that claim the federal tax deposit she made online at EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) has been rejected by the IRS.
Some of the emails claim that she entered the “company code” incorrectly, while others maintain (along with numerous misspellings and grammatical errors) that the IRS could not process the payment because it was made on a holiday.
The emails usually had a link to what looks like the IRS’s website, but the author was suspicious of the link and ignored it, aware that it could redirect to a site that would ask for her financial information, and run the risk of being a victim of identity theft or the transfer of funds to an untraceable overseas account.
The author shared reminders about these tax scam emails:
- The IRS NEVER contacts a taxpayer via e-mail
- If you receive one of these e-mail scams, forward the e-mail in question to phishing@irs.gov. The IRS will send an email response thanking you for forwarding the information to them, but otherwise you won’t hear the outcome.
- You may also call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at: 1-800-366-4484.
- The IRS will not contact you via e-mail about payments or audits or problems associated with your tax return. It uses snail mail for that.
Avoid a scam today by subscribing to The March Group Scam Blog.
The March Group is a leading mergers and acquisitions advisory firm dedicated to the middle market.