IRS E-mail Scam

The "IRS" has e-mailed me that I'm due to receive a refund. Here's the message:

How do I know this is not from the IRS? First, it was sent to my work address. I've never given that address to the man who does our taxes or to the IRS. Second, if I hover my cursor over the "click here" I can see that the web address does not belong to the IRS. It's pointing me to a look-a-like page.

This fake IRS page includes links to the pages on the real IRS web site. But the URL has "ap/ro" which is not address of the IRS: www.irs.gov.


Third, I checked the Urban Legends Reference Pages. I entered "IRS refund" in the search box and my message came up first on the list as phishing bait. The scammers are trying to get my Social Security and credit card numbers.

Be very careful about clicking on links in e-mail messages. And remember to use the most important tool you have in fighting spam: