The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office is alerting financial institutions to be wary of fraudulent emails, ostensibly from the IRS, requesting personal financial data on account holders under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA). The emails request data such as account holder identities, account information, and confidential passwords.

The IRS says it does not request specific account holder identity information over the phone, by fax or by email, and does not solicit FACTA passwords or other confidential account information. They report that incidents of these “phishing” scams involving FACTA have occurred in multiple countries.

Anyone approached for FACTA data by an email supposedly from the IRS should report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 800-366-4484, or through TIGTA’s secure website. Any suspicious emails that contain attachments or links in the message should not be opened, and the email should be forwarded to phishing@irs.gov.

For more information on the FACTA scam and other tax scams, or for answers to your tax questions, please contact Gray, Gray & Gray.