February 4, 2008

IRS Warns Of Scam Targeting Charities

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned nonprofits to beware of an email scam that uses the IRS name as a lure. The IRS expects such scams to continue through the end of tax return filing season and beyond.

 The IRS reported seeing several variations of a refund-related bogus email, which falsely claims to come from the agency. It tells the recipient that he or she is eligible for a tax refund for a specific amount, and instructs the recipient to click on a link in the email to access a refund claim form.

 The form asks the recipient to enter personal information that the criminals can then use to access the email recipient's bank or credit card account.

 In a new wrinkle, the current version of the refund scam includes two paragraphs that appear to be directed toward tax-exempt organizations that distribute funds to other organizations or individuals. The email contains the name and supposed signature of the Director of the IRS's Exempt Organizations business division.

 The email is a phony. An IRS spokesman said that the agency does not send unsolicited email about tax account matters to individual, business, tax-exempt or other taxpayers.

Filing a tax return is the only way to apply for a tax refund. There is no separate application form. The only official IRS Web site is www.irs.gov.

 The IRS cautioned to be on the lookout for scams involving proposed advance payment checks. Although the government has not yet enacted an economic stimulus package in which the IRS would provide advance payments, known informally as rebates to many Americans, a scam which uses the proposed rebates as bait has already cropped up.

 This article is from NPT Weekly, a publication of The Nonprofit Times.