New Email Phishing Scam

By Bill

New Email Phishing Scam

The IRS has been alerted to a new email phishing scam. The emails appear to be from the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service and include a bogus case number and the following message:

“Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance. To avoid delays processing your 2013 filing contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.”

The recipient is directed to click on links that supposedly provide information about the “advocate” assigned to their case or that let them “review reported income.”  The links lead to web pages that solicit personal information.

Taxpayers who get these messages should not respond to the email or click on the links. Instead, they should forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. For more information, visit the IRS’s Report Phishing web page.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is a legitimate IRS organization that helps taxpayers resolve federal tax issues that have not been resolved through the normal IRS channels. The IRS, including TAS, does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, texting or any social media.