The Internal Revenue Service has said that it does not require financial institutions to provide specific account holder identity information or financial account information over the phone or by fax or email. In addition, the IRS clarified that it does not solicit FATCA registration passwords or similar confidential account access information.
“Tax scams using the IRS name can take many forms and they are not limited by national borders,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “People should always be cautious before sending sensitive information to anyone.”
Financial institutions directly registered to comply with FATCA and those in jurisdictions that are treated as having in effect intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) to implement FATCA through intergovernmental cooperation have been approached by persons representing themselves as the IRS. The IRS has reports of incidents from multiple countries and continents.
These fraudulent solicitations are known as “phishing” scams. These types of scams are typically carried out through the use of unsolicited emails and/or websites that pose as legitimate contacts in order to deceptively obtain personal or financial information.
