By Kay McKenzie
Phishing is an attempt at acquiring information such as usernames, passwords, credit card details and other personal information by acting as a trustworthy entity such as financial institutions or even the Internal Revenue Service. They typically use unsolicited email and/or websites that pose as legitimate site and lure unsuspecting victims to provide this personal and financial information.
Please know that the IRS does not and will not contact taxpayers by email or any social media tools to obtain any personal or financial information, they do not send any communication requesting PIN numbers, passwords, or anything related to your credit cards, bank or other financial accounts.
If you should receive any unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS or any other IRS Related entity (i.e. the Office of Professional Responsibility or EFTPS); you should report that immediately by forwarding the email to phishing@irs.gov.
If you receive any suspicious IRS related communication, the IRS has tips on how you can know what is legitimate and examples of what isn’t and many other additional resources that can be found at http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=179820,00.html.
As always, please feel free to call us at Blackburn, Childers & Steagall if you are unsure or if you have any questions.