Wilmington – Delawareans should be aware of fraudulent e-mail messages claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service’s Taxpayer Advocacy Service, but in reality are part of a scam attempt, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said today.

The e-mails contain a made-up case number, the Taxpayer Advocacy Center’s actual logo and reads: “Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance. To avoid delays processing your 2013 filing contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.”

The fraudulent e-mail then provides a link that solicits personal information from the recipient, such as legal name and contact information.

Those who receive these bogus e-mails should not click on any of the links or provide any of the information requested. The e-mails should be forwarded to the IRS’ designed account for fraudulent emails, which is phishing@irs.gov.  Please note that the IRS does not communicate with taxpayers through e-mail.

Delawareans who receive unsolicited phone calls, e-mails, or other messages that they believe may be a scam should report those communications to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-220-5424 or sending an email to consumer.protection@delaware.gov.

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