PIERRE, S.D. (Legal Newsline) - South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has issued a consumer alert about emails that claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service but are actually scams meant to obtain personal identifying information.
Consumers should be careful when visiting websites that have the appearance of the IRS site or websites that associate themselves with the IRS. The IRS does not email individuals with tax filing issues.
"The IRS does not communicate with individuals via email with tax filing problems or refunds, so avoid clicking links on suspicious email messages," Jackley said.
Jackley's Consumer Protection Division recently received many examples of IRS scam emails. The emails typically indicate that the IRS found an error in the calculation of an individual's tax return and wants to return the excess payment back to the individual. The emails say that to return the funds, the individual must create a tax gateway account to apply the credit. In realty, the email links to a page that will provide personal identifying information to a scammer.
Fraudulent emails with the words government or IRS are sent in an attempt to make consumers believe they are from the federal government. The IRS never sends out unsolicited emails or asks for personal identifying information. The IRS will also never direct individuals to a website other than the official www.irs.gov site.
S.D. AG issues alert about IRS email scam
