United States Congressman Peter T. King is alerting residents of the 3rd Congressional District that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has informed him of the latest versions of an email scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the IRS's Criminal Investigation Division.

"The email purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Board," King said. "The email seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS states that the email link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person's computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer."

According to King, similar email variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions appear aimed at businesses as well as individuals.

"The IRS does not send out unsolicited emails or ask for detailed personal and financial information," King noted. "Additionally, the IRS never asks people for PIN numbers, passwords, or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts."

The congressman added that recipients of questionable emails claiming to come from the IRS should not open any attachments or click any links contained in the emails. Instead, they should forward the emails to phishing@irs.gov. Further information can be found on IRS.gov by entering the term "phishing" in the search box. An email scam that involves tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet is known as "phishing" for information.

"Other fraudulent email scams try to entice recipients to click their way to a fake IRS website and ask for bank account numbers," King stated. "Another widespread email says that the IRS is holding a refund, often in the amount of $63.80, for the recipients and seeks financial account information. Still another email claims the IRS's anti-fraud commission is investigating their tax returns."

For additional information, visit www.irs.gov.