Fresh Start Tax lets all our blog friends know about the latest scams they should be made aware of.  Here is an alert brought to you by the IRS.
The IRS and Fresh Start Tax warns taxpayers, businesses and individuals to be on the alert for e-mails and phone calls they may receive which claim to come from the IRS or other federal agency and which mention their tax refund or economic stimulus payment.  These are almost certainly a scam from scam artists whose purpose is to obtain personal and financial information such as name, social security number, bank account and credit card or even PIN numbers from taxpayers which can be used by the scammers to commit identity theft. The e-mails and calls usually state that the IRS needs the information to process a refund or stimulus payment or deposit it into the taxpayer’s bank account. The e-mails often contain links or attachments to what appears to be the IRS Web site or an IRS “refund application form.”  However genuine in appearance, these phonies are designed to elicit the information the scammers are looking for.
The IRS does not send taxpayers e-mails about their tax accounts.
Additionally, the way to get a tax refund or stimulus payment, or to arrange for a direct deposit, is to file a tax return.
Fresh Start Tax reviews all IRS alerts coming out and monitors them for information that needs to go out to all FST followers. This is an important consumer alert.
Remember, the IRS never sends out emails to individuals or businesses,  so beware of suspicious e-mails that could lead to Identity Theft.