Michigan Department of Treasury Story About an IRS Scam Warning–Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
According to this story, the Michigan Department of Treasury got an alert from the IRS about an email scam. The scam is described as one in which people receive emails saying that they are under an “e-audit” and need to complete a questionnaire. The message says the answers need to be emailed within 48 hours or penalties will be assessed. Among the questions are requests for personal information including Social Security numbers. The message warns taxpayers not to respond to the message because the IRS does not conduct “e-audits” and doesn’t notify people of pending audits via email
The Truth:
Technically, this eRumor is not entirely true because it got a couple of key facts wrong, but the warning is one to take to heart.
As claimed, it was posted on the website of the Michigan Department of Treasury. The IRS did not issue a warning about this particular email message, however, because the text is apparently from a promotional email, perhaps Spam, not necessarily a scammer.
Still, the advice is good to heed. If anyone requests personal information and especially Social Security or credit card numbers, be suspicious.