Latest IRS e-mail Hoax

September 21, 2009

It seems that every day we are bombarded with e-mail hoaxes, scams and phishing attempts. Some of the most seductive ones appear to be from a reputable source. If you received an e-mail similar to the one below purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service do not clink on the hyper link. The e-mail should be deleted.

The fact that there is no phone number to call and that the IRS would not initiate contact with a taxpayer by e-mail are good clues that the e-mail is phony.

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From: Internal Revenue Service [mailto:no-reply@irs.gov]
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 10:34 AM
To: smith@yahoo.net
Subject: Notice of Underreported Income

Taxpayer ID: smith-00000174073547US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: smith-00000174073547US

Internal Revenue Service

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William B. Riccio, CPA/CITP is a certified public accountant. He is president of Riccio & Associates and can be reached at (216) 255-6913 or by e-mail at william@ohiocpa.net.