The IRS does not send taxpayers unsolicited e-mails about their tax accounts, tax situations or personal tax issues. If you receive such an e-mail, most likely it's a scam.  These schemes may take place via phone, fax, Internet sites, social networking sites and particularly e-mail.  Many impersonations are identity theft scams that try to trick victims into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to access their financial accounts. Some e-mail scams contain attachments or links like PDFs or reports that, when clicked, download malicous code (a virus) that infects your computer or direct you to a bogus form or site posing as a genuine IRS form or Web site. 

Some impersonations may be commercial Internet sites that consumers unknowingly visit, thinking they're accessing the genuine IRS Web site, IRS.gov. However, such sites have no connection to the IRS.

Taxpayers who receive a suspicious e-mail claiming to come from the IRS should take the following steps:

• Avoid opening any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
• Avoid clicking on any links, for the same reason. Alternatively, the links may connect to a phony IRS Web site that appears authentic and then prompts for personal identifiers, bank or credit card account numbers or PINs.
• Visit the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, to use the “Where’s My Refund?” interactive tool to determine if they are really getting a refund, rather than responding to the e-mail message.
• Forward the suspicious e-mail or url address to the IRS mailbox phishing@irs.gov, then delete the e-mail from their inbox.

The IRS website has lots of news on current scams and ways to protect yourself. Visit it for the latest information.

Since February of 2011, NACHA has been the victim of unrelenting and evolving phishing attacks.  Both consumers and businesses have been receiving e-mails referencing ACH (Automatic Clearing House, a.k.a. electronic) transfers, payments or transactions by NACHA.  The e-mail contains links or attachments (also showing up as a PDF files) containing malicious code that will infect your computer.   

These attacks are occurring more frequently and showing increased complexity. Even though the contents of these e-mails vary, more recent examples include a counterfeit NACHA logo and the citation of NACHA’s physical mailing address and phone number.  Perpetrators may also be exploiting email addresses recently stolen from the Epsilon breach. 

Customers should be informed that NACHA does not process, nor touch ACH transactions that flow in between organizations and financial institutions.  NACHA also does not send communications directly to individuals or organizations about ACH transactions that they originate or receive. 

If you receive an email like this, do NOT access the link or attachments provided within it and do not under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.  NACHA is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and disrupt the transmission.  Please help them out by reporting any similar e-mail attempts to abuse@nacha.org.

E-mails fraudulently claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are attempting to get recipients to click on a link, which may ask them to provide sensitive personal information. These e-mails falsely indicate that FDIC deposit insurance is suspended until the requested customer information is provided.

The fraudulent e-mail informs the recipient that “in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, federal, state and local governments…” the FDIC has withdrawn deposit insurance from the recipient’s account “due to account activity that violates the Patriot Act.” It further states that deposit insurance will remain suspended until identity and account information can be verified using a system called “IDVerify.” If consumers go to the link provided in the e-mail, it is suspected they will be asked for personal or confidential information, or malicious software may be loaded onto the recipient’s computer.

If you receive this email do NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and do not under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media. The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and disrupt the transmission. Help them out by reporting any similar attempts to obtain this information by sending information to alert@fdic.gov.

Read the full alert from the FDIC.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of suspicious telephone calls where the caller claims to represent the FDIC and is calling regarding the collection of an outstanding debt.

To date, the callers have alleged that the call recipient is delinquent in payment of a loan that was applied for over the Internet or made through a payday lender. The loan may or may not actually exist. The caller attempts to authenticate the claim by providing sensitive personal information, such as name, Social Security number, and date of birth, supposedly taken from the loan application. The recipient is then strongly urged to make a payment over the phone to “avoid a lawsuit and possible arrest.” In some instances, the caller is said to sound aggressive and threatening.

These suspicious telephone calls are fraudulent. Recipients should consider them as an attempt to steal money or collect personal identifying information. The FDIC generally does not initiate unsolicited telephone calls to consumers and is not involved with the collection of debts on behalf of operating lenders and financial institutions.

If a caller demonstrates that he or she has the recipient’s sensitive personal information, such as Social Security number, date of birth, and bank account numbers, the recipient may be the victim of identity theft and should review his or her credit reports for signs of possible fraud. The individual should also consider placing a “fraud alert” on his or her credit reports. This can be done by contacting one of the three consumer reporting companies listed below. Only one of the three companies needs to be contacted. That company is required to contact the other two, which will place an alert on their versions of the report.
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, California 92834-6790
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, Georgia 30374-0241
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9554, Allen, Texas 75013

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC’s Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-3054, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Questions related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

Have you received a phone call that your debit card has been deactivated?  Don't respond or provide any information. This is a phishing attempt to gain PINs or other personal identifying information. Bank of Ann Arbor reminds you that we will never call you to ask for your account number or any identifying information.  When in doubt, don't.  Call us at 734-662-1600.