Sunflower Bank

WASHINGTON — The IRS warns consumers to beware of recent e-mail and telephone scams involving phony advance payment checks — mimicking the proposed economic stimulus package currently in discussion.

Although the government has not yet enacted any economic stimulus package in which the IRS would provide advance payments, known informally as rebates, scams using the proposed rebates as bait already have cropped up.

The scam’s objective is to trick people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers over the phone or in email response, after which the scammers can use to commit identity theft.

Rebate Phone Call In this scam, consumers receive a phone call from someone identifying himself as an IRS employee. The caller tells the targeted victim he or she is eligible for a sizable rebate for filing his taxes early. The caller then states he needs the target’s bank account information for the direct deposit of the rebate. If the target refuses, he is told that he cannot receive the rebate. This phone call is a blatant scam. No legislation has yet been enacted allowing the IRS to provide rebates to taxpayers, and no legislation has been enacted describing the details of those payments.

Also, the IRS does not force taxpayers to use direct deposit. Those who opt for direct deposit do so by completing the appropriate section of their tax return when they file; the IRS does not gather bank account information by telephone.

Typically, identity thieves use a victim’s personal and financial data to empty a victim’s financial accounts, charge a victim’s existing credit cards, apply for loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name or file fraudulent tax returns.

h2 .Refund e-mail
Several variations of bogus refund-related e-mails have been reported. The email purportedly comes from the IRS, explains to 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 e-mail to access a refund claim form.

The phony form on a mimic web page asks the recipient to enter personal information, which is harvested to access the e-mail recipient’s bank or credit card account. The current scam also is directed at tax-exempt organizations distributing funds to other organizations or individuals, and contains the name and supposed signature of the Director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations business division.

The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail 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. Taxpayers who wish to find out if they are owed a refund from their last annual tax return filing may use the “Where’s My Refund?” interactive application on “IRS.gov”:www.irs.gov.

Audit e-Mail Another new scam involves an e-mail purportedly from the IRS, which notifies the recipient that his or her tax return will be audited.

Unusual for a scam e-mail, it may contain a salutation in the body addressed to the specific recipient by name. Most scam e-mails seen by the IRS are sent with spamming technique, with hundreds of thousands of messages sent to potential victims based on Internet address, and is typically not personalized.

This e-mail instructs the recipient to click on links to enter personal and account information into faux web pages, which the scammers will use to commit identity theft. This e-mail is a phony. The IRS does not send unsolicited, tax-account related e-mails to taxpayers.

Changes to Tax Law Email This bogus e-mail is addressed to businesses, accountants and “Treasury” managers. It instructs them to download information on tax law changes by clicking on a series of links to publications on businesses, estate taxes, excise taxes, exempt organizations and IRAs and other retirement plans.

The IRS believes these links are harmful and download malware onto the recipient’s computer. Malware is malicious code that can take over the victim’s computer hard drive, giving someone remote access to the computer, or it could look for passwords and other information and send them to the scamster.

Paper Check Phone Call In a current telephone scam, a caller claims to be an IRS employee calling because the IRS sent a check to the individual being called and asks to verify the individual’s bank account number because the imaginary check has not been cashed.

In reality, the IRS leaves it entirely up to the individual to choose to cash or not cash a paper check. The IRS does not ask for bank account or similar information,

What to Do Do not click on a link in an e-mail to access the IRS web site or open an unusual attachment from a questionable email. If you’ve received a questionable e-mail claiming to come from the IRS, you may forward it to phishing@irs.gov

Those who have received a questionable telephone call that claims to come from the IRS may also use the phishing@irs.gov mailbox to notify the IRS of the scam.

In addition, Sunflower Bank is committed to the security and safety of all customers, consumers, and individuals. If you have received an email or phone call that asks for sensitive Sunflower Bank information, please let us know immediately at 1-888-827-5564 or customerservice@sunflowerbank.com.