IRS Phishing Alert
The IRS is warning consumers against a phish email scam that directs them to a website that asks them to enter personal identifying and financial information.
The fake messages claim to come from tax-refunds@irs.gov, admin@irs.gov or other variations on the irs.gov address. The emails tell the recipient that he or she is eligible to receive a tax refund for a specific amount, and it provides a link to a website that is a clone of the IRS website. Recipients are asked to provide personal information such as Social Security number and credit card information and ATM PIN (for bank verification).
In another scam, a bogus IRS letter and Form W-8BEN (a form that financial institutions use to establish appropriate tax withholding for foreign individuals) asks non-residents to provide personal information such as account numbers, PINs, mother's maiden name and passport number. The IRS says the legimate IRS Form W-8BEN does not ask for any of this information.
The IRS has acknowledged that these emails are fake and has placed an alert on its website warning consumers about the scams. It reminds consumers that the IRS does not send out unsolicited emails or ask for detailed personal information, nor do they ask for PIN numbers, passwords or other access information for their credit card or bank accounts.
These emails are continuing examples of "phishing" - an email scam that is trying to trick you, the consumer, into revealing your personal information through a fake website.
DON'T BE FOOLED. You should NEVER, EVER respond to emails requesting your personal information, nor should you ever enter your personal information into a website linked to from an email. Legitimate companies, including Corning Credit Union and our business partners, would never send an e-mail requesting your confidential information. If you do receive an email like this from ANY vendor that you do business with, including Corning Credit Union, do not divulge your personal information and call them using their published phone number.
