FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :     Friday, January 17, 2014
CONTACT:  Sara Rabern (605)773-3215   

 
Attorney General Jackley Warns of IRS Phishing Scam

PIERRE, S.D  - Tax season is upon us and Attorney General Marty Jackley is warning consumers of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) related scams that target tax payers. Consumers will begin to receive emails or text messages from individuals claiming to represent the IRS, informing the recipient about their tax refund and seeking personal and financial information.

The bogus email informs the recipient that they are eligible to receive a certain tax refund amount. It then directs the recipient to a link contained in the email to access a form to obtain their refund. The link then asks for the personal and financial information. The official IRS website is www.irs.gov, but the look-alike sites which use a few different keystrokes are set up to redirect consumers to bogus websites.

"The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information through unsolicited emails or phone calls,” said Jackley. “It is important to remember the official IRS website offers tax information for consumers, but the exchange of private financial information is limited.”

Jackley said that consumers contacted by someone claiming to be from the IRS - either by email or phone - should take the following steps:

• Do not open any attachments to the email to avoid infecting your computer with a possible virus or other damaging spyware or adware.

• Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to confirm whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax refund.

• Do not open or respond to text messages from unknown numbers.

If you have been a victim of one of these scams or need any additional information contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or consumerhelp@state.sd.us.

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