It seems that scammers agree with Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, who uttered the now famous quote, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Scammers are playing on people's desperation and the promise of government pork for everyone coming from the "We Are All Socialists Now" Act of 2009.
Phishing scammers are sending e-mails that look like they come from the IRS. The e-mail claims that the recipient has a tax rebate coming. When you click through it then sends you to a rather authentic looking website set up to get personal financial information that can then be used to pilfer the accounts of its victims.
The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a scam alert to small businesses, warning them not to respond to letters falsely claiming to have been sent by the SBA asking for bank account information in order to qualify them for federal tax rebates.
The fraudulent letters were sent out with what appears to be an SBA letterhead to small businesses across the country, advising recipients that they may be eligible for a tax rebate under the Economic Stimulus Act, and that SBA is assessing their eligibility for such a rebate. The letter asks the small business to provide the name of its bank and account number.
The SBA is working with the SBA Office of Inspector General to investigate this matter. The Office of Inspector General asks that anyone who receives such a letter report it to the OIG Fraud Line at 1 (800) 767-0385, or e-mail at OIGHotline@sba.gov.
Thanks for the ehads up.