FBI WarnsOf New Phishing Scam

SEBRING - The FBI has issued a warning for people not to be fooled by e-scammers phishing for personal information by using the economic stimulus checks for bait, according to Paul Hinman, with the sheriff's crime prevention unit.

"We want to caution our citizens on these things," Hinman said Wednesday. "The IRS does not solicit citizens on this type of thing. They should not respond to any e-mail, telephone call or correspondence whatsoever on how to get their stimulus checks."

The FBI warns that consumers have recently reported spam e-mails that claim they are from the IRS, which actually is an attempt to steal their personal information.

"The e-mail advises the recipient that direct deposit is the fastest and easiest way to receive their economic stimulus tax rebate," the FBI reported in its investigation.

"The message contains a hyperlink to a fraudulent form which requests the recipient's personally identifiable information, including bank account information. To convince the consumers to reply, the e-mail warns that a failure to complete the form in a timely manner will delay the issuance of the rebate check."

The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications via e-mail. In addition, the IRS does not request detailed personal information via e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts, the report stated.
Anyone receiving an e-mail similar to this is asked to notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov .

The government is also warning about fraudulent grand jury summonses.

These e-mails contain threats with contempt of court charges if they fail to appear. The recipient is directed to click to a link provided to download and print associated information for their records.

The recipient clicks the link and a malicious code (malware) is downloaded into their computer.