IRS and Tax scams

As the dreaded tax season is upon us, so are the scam artists.

The IRS continues to warn people of the frequent e-mail and telephone scams whose aim is to latch onto a victim's personal and financial data.

A recent scam involves a person who calls and identifies himself as an IRS employee promising a sizable "rebate" if the taxpayer files early.

The caller will then need the person's bank account information for the direct deposit of the refund and if the person declines, the caller states the offer is withdrawn.

A similar scam is also occurring by e-mail that is purportedly from the IRS. These instruct the person to click on a link to claim his or her refund and the site is a typical phishing page that looks legitimate. It will attempt to gather personal data, credit card numbers or bank accounts.

The IRS wants people to know that they never gather personal information about taxpayers by telephone or unsolicited e-mails.

They have a website that you can go to if you have questions about your refund:"Where's My Refund?"