Monday, May 05, 2008

Scam spam of the week

What follows is a scam email, fresh out of my in-box:

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity
we have determined that you are eligible to receive
a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. Tax refund value is $189.60.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days
in order to IWP the data received.
If u don't receive your refund within 9 business
days from the original IRS mailing date shown,
you can start a refund trace online.

If you distribute funds to other organization, your records must show wether
they are exempt under section 497 (c) (15). In cases where the recipient org.
is not exempt under section 497 (c) (15), you must have evidence the funds will
be used for section 497 (c) (15) purposes.

If you distribute fund to individuals, you should keep case histories showing
the recipient's name and address; the purpose of the award; the maner of
section; and the realtionship of the recipient to any of your officers, directors,
trustees, members, or major contributors.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here


This notification has been sent by the Internal Revenue Service,
a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.
Sincerely Yours,

John Stewart
Director, Exempt. Organization
Rulings and Agreements Letter
Internal Revenue Service




How I knew that this was a scam:
1. The federal government does not use email for official communications.
2. No IRS employee uses "u" as a second person pronoun.
3. If the government were in fact performing "annual calculations of my fiscal activity", they would not tell me about it in a friendly email. Tax refunds are determined by the information that the taxpayer provided on their 1040.

1 comment:

  1. Bob:
    Having worked for the Treasury Department ages ago, you are right on ALL counts, especially #1.

    The Feds LOVE to waste postage (that you're paying for anyway) and will mail you anything AND everything when it comes to YOU, trust me!

    And in any correspondence, they would explain "what" fiscal activity that any further refund would be pursuant to...in detail.
    In some cases, they would even notify you to come to the local office for resolution.

    Lastly, it would be "rare" if the IRS contacted you about THIS year's "activity", unless the computer FLAGGED your return (number of reasons - this "possibly" being one) and kicked it out of the system. A wrong SSN will do it just fine, though.
    Usually, it's for past years (3 years for people, 7 years for businesses, unless a prior audit was involved).

    Good call, Bob...nice to see you on your toes.

    B.G.
    So...when YOU running for Governor?

    ReplyDelete