Scams target military families, e-mail users

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Although the federal tax filing season ended April 15, the Internal Revenue Service continues to see isolated instances of new tax scams.

Two new schemes target families of those serving in the armed forces and e-mail users. In both schemes, people represent themselves as being from the IRS.

The IRS warns consumers to beware of any variation of a scenario in which a telephone caller posing as an IRS employee tells a family member he is entitled to a $4,000 refund because his relative is in the armed forces and then requests a credit card number to cover a $42 fee for postage. The scammer provides an actual IRS toll-free number as the call-back number to make the call seem legitimate. However, the scammer then charges unauthorized purchases with the victim's card.

Genuine IRS employees who call taxpayers do not ask for credit card numbers or request fees for payment of a refund.

In another scheme, victims receive an e-mail that appears to be from the IRS. The e-mail contains links to a non-IRS Internet Web page that asks for personal and financial information. Such information could be used to steal the respondent's identity and get access to sensitive financial data or accounts.

Identity thieves can use someone's personal data to:

-- take over his or her financial accounts.

-- run up charges on the victim's existing credit cards.

-- apply for loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim's name.

-- file fraudulent tax returns.

The IRS does not request sensitive personal or financial data by e-mail.

The IRS wants to get word of these scams to military families before more damage is done, according to IRS spokesman Bill Barksdale.

“What we’re trying to do is protect taxpayers from financial predators who are out there finding creative ways to steal from people,” said Barksdale. “In this case (the latest military-related scam), it’s not hard for these identity thieves to tell that lots of military folks are still deployed and, in many cases, their loved ones are left behind to figure out and finish the taxes.”

Not all the phone calls will be the same, Barksdale said, but military people and their families should be aware of the basic elements of these scams so they can guard against them.

“The calls may not be worded exactly the same, but it’s a good chance the predator will do or say something to entice the military member or spouse to give up their credit card information, which they will then use to commit identity theft,” he said.

He does not know exactly how many military families have fallen victim to these scams, but he hopes it is not many, Barksdale said.

“We’re trying to get ahead of these scams," he said. "It’s one of our priorities. Hopefully, once we get this information out, we will prevent other military families from becoming victims of identity theft.”

People who believe they are victims of one of these scams can contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration by calling the toll-free fraud referral hotline at (800) 366-4484, faxing a complaint to (202) 927-7018 or writing to the TIGTA Hotline, P.O. Box 589, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044-0589. TIGTA's Web site is located at www.ustreas.gov/tigta. (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)