November 14th, 2013 -- The Embassy of the United States of America to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean, and the OECS alerts the public to an Internet scam purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which has resurfaced.
The Internet Phishing scam targeting taxpayers resurfaced when a number of persons received “notification” purportedly from the IRS claiming they were entitled to a refund and all that was needed was for the recipient to give their credit card number and the money would be credited to their account.
It is not the practice of the IRS to request this type of information via email.
The IRS warns that care should always be taken when disclosing personal information.
The frauds send an email to individuals posing as an IRS representative informing them that, if they are awaiting a refund, they can check the progress of the refund by clicking on a link contained in the email. This link directs individuals to a website that requests personal information including Social Security Numbers (SSN) and Credit Card information. The website may also attempt to infect your system with malicious code.
Taxpayers have been urged to be suspicious of emails that urge them to act quickly or their accounts will be suspended or closed, emails that are generic and don’t address them by name or any emails requesting personal information such as account numbers, Social Security Numbers (SSN) credit card numbers or pass words.
If taxpayers have any doubt whether a contact from the IRS is authentic, they should call 1-800-829-1040 or the United States Embassy in Bridgetown at 227-4000.
For more information please visit http://www.irs.gov/uac/Fake-Form-W-8BEN-Used-in-IRS-Tax-Scams.
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