Problem Alert: The IRS Warns of Scam e-Mails or Phone Calls

This blog is so important I thought it would be ok to break my series in OIC'S to share this IRS warning. Please read this article from the irs.gov web site.
The IRS warns taxpayers to be on the alert for e-mails and phone calls they may receive which claim to come from the IRS or other federal agency and which mention their tax refund or economic stimulus payment. These are almost certainly a scam whose purpose is to obtain personal and financial information — such as name, Social Security number, bank account and credit card or even PIN numbers — from taxpayers which can be used by the scammers to commit identity theft. The e-mails and calls usually state that the IRS needs the information to process a refund or stimulus payment or deposit it into the taxpayer's bank account. The e-mails often contain links or attachments to what appears to be the IRS Web site or an IRS "refund application form." However genuine in appearance, these phonies are designed to elicit the information the scammers are looking for.
The IRS does not send taxpayers e-mails about their tax accounts. Additionally, the only way to get a tax refund or stimulus payment, or to arrange for a direct deposit, is to file a tax return.
When tax resolution firms do practitioner calls the IRS always tries to update your info on the records. If the one doing the call only has an web form with an email address they will flat out tell you never mind we don't accept email address.
For more information on consumer scams, see Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft.