Sen. Marty Knollenberg is alerting residents of the 13th District to be aware of potential IRS tax scams and tax-related identify theft, and he is reminding residents that the IRS will never contact them through e-mail or by phone.
“Calls or emails claiming to be the IRS and requesting personal information are fraudulent, and I want to remind residents to be aware of these criminals,” said Knollenberg, R-Troy. “It is important that we recognize this issue and do everything we can to prevent these types of scams from happening in our community and across the state.”
A complete consumer alert and tips can be viewed on the attorney general’s website at www.michigan.gov/ag. Click on the Consumer Protection tab.
Email is the method of choice for IRS scams. Common email tricks include using:
- The official IRS logo
- Whole sections of text from the IRS’ website
- A fake “From” address (reported Michigan variations include irs@getrefundnow.com, support@irs.gov, service@irs.jg.gov, tax-refunds@irs.gov and other variations on the irs.gov theme); and
- Forms with numbers similar to those the IRS already uses, often with a jumble of numbers and letters.
To report claims, please contact Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette at 877-765-8388. Schuette issued a formal consumer alert in regard to these types of scams, stating that the IRS will never ask taxpayers for personal information by phone or in an email message.
For more information on IRS tax scams or to contact Knollenberg, please visit www.SenatorMartyKnollenberg.com or call 517-373-2523.
Michigan’s 13th State Senate district includes the communities of Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Clawson, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, and Troy.
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