Tax season is finally\u00a0closed: Tuesday was the deadline for filing your federal income tax return.<\/p>\n
While the Internal Revenue Service encourages electronic filing of returns, it doesn\u2019t yet make use of e-mail or social media tools to begin communication with taxpayers, because of security concerns. The agency says that is important to keep in mind in light of recent tax-related phishing schemes that try to lure taxpayers into visiting fictitious Web sites and providing sensitive financial information.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, for instance, a phishing scam sent out e-mails purporting to be from the I.R.S., announcing a fake \u201cearly filing\u201d deadline and high penalty for missing it. The e-mail directed users to a bogus Web site that tried to mimic the official I.R.S. site, and asked them for personal and financial information, like bank account numbers and birth dates.<\/p>\n
In response, the I.R.S. emphasizes that it \u201cdoes not initiate contact with taxpayers by e-mail or any social media tools to request personal or financial information.\u201d Further, it says, the agency doesn\u2019t \u201csend e-mails stating you are being electronically audited or that you are getting a refund.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels,\u201d the agency says.<\/p>\n
So what should you do if you get a suspicious e-mail that claims to be from the I.R.S.?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t reply to the e-mail, the agency advises. And don\u2019t click on any links included in the message, or open any attachments. Doing so can make your computer vulnerable to viruses or other attacks. Rather, forward the e-mail, as is, to phishing@irs.gov. Then delete the e-mail from your account.<\/p>\n
Similarly, if you discover a Web site that appears to be fraudulent, you can send the url to the same e-mail address.<\/p>\n
Have you ever received suspicious e-mails that appeared to be from the I.R.S.?<\/p>\n
Tax season is finally\u00a0closed: Tuesday was the deadline for filing your federal income tax return. While the Internal Revenue Service encourages electronic filing of returns, it doesn\u2019t yet make use of e-mail or social media tools to begin communication with taxpayers, because of security concerns. The agency says that is important to keep in mind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}