A new scam alert has been issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In this scam, a letter with the IRS logo arrives in a cardboard envelope through a delivery service. The letter informs you about a tax refund that you haven't claimed yet.
But beware, the IRS warns this might be a trick.
The fake letter comes with a phone number and contact information that are not associated with the IRS. The letter also seeks personal details, including close-up pictures of your driver's license.
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Identity thieves can potentially use this information to steal your tax refund and other essential financial details.
According to Alejandra Castro, an IRS spokesperson, there are certain things about these fake letters that should make you suspicious.
"Number one, it has the IRS logo, but on the upper right hand side, it doesn't have any information, which usually our letters do have the CP notice and other information on the upper right hand corner," Castro said.
Several red flags to watch out for with these scam letters are:
- It requests your cellphone number, bank routing information, social security number, and type of bank account you have.
- The letter contains grammatical errors and makes odd-sounding requests.
- It falsely claims that the IRS is managing "unclaimed property"
- Provides incorrect information about tax return deadlines.
"It has a deadline of October 17 mentioned in the letter. Well, that deadline they are making reference to is actually the 16th of October this year, which is for taxpayers who solicited an extension to file their taxes," Castro said.
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So how can you verify the legitimacy of such a letter? The best course of action is to contact the IRS directly.
"Each letter has a number. You can look at it on our website or you can open up that IRS account, which has all your personal information. And you can see if there's a copy of that letter," Castro said.
It's important to remember that legitimate correspondence from the IRS will never ask for such detailed personal information through an email, text, or mailed letter.
When in doubt, contact the IRS directly through their official website or their official phone line 800-829-1040.
