An identity theft scam has surfaced in The Bahamas in which foreign individuals purporting to be associated with the U.S. based Internal Revenue Service [IRS] are attempting to solicit information.
It prompted the Central Bank of The Bahamas to issue a warning this week about the false representations being perpetrated on the Bahamian public following similar cautions released by U.S. Department of Treasury officials.
“The scheme targets non-resident aliens who many or may not derive income from a United States source using fictitious IRS correspondence and an altered IRS form, such as a Form W-8BEN, in an attempt to trick foreign persons into disclosing their personal financial data,” the Central Bank alert said.
With this information the scam artists are then able to steal identities and financial assets. Bahamian authorities pointed out that financial institutions, not the IRS disseminate genuine W-8BEN Forms.
U.S. officials have been on the trail of these identity thieves for quite some time and the IRS has even issued statements warning the public about the scam following an increase of such e-mails. In fact since last November, according to officials, 99 different scams have been uncovered with 20 of them being identified in June. It was the highest cluster since March during which 40 schemes were pinpointed during the height of the filing season.
Officials have been able to determine that many of the scams originate in places like Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, England, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and Slovakia.
The current scams that claim to come from the IRS, tell recipients that they are due a federal tax refund, and direct them to a Web site that appears to be a genuine IRS site. The bogus sites contain forms or interactive Web pages similar to IRS forms or Web pages but which have been modified to request detailed personal and financial information from the e-mail recipients. In addition, e-mail addresses ending with “.edu” – involving users in the education community – currently seem to be heavily targeted, according to the IRS.
However, the IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal information via e-mail. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
Tricking consumers into disclosing their personal and financial information, such as secret access data or credit card or bank account numbers, is fraudulent activity, which can result in identity theft. Such schemes spread through the Internet are called “phishing” for information.
The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayerﾒs identity and financial assets. Typically, identity thieves use someoneﾒs personal data to empty the victimﾒs financial accounts, run up charges on the victimﾒs existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victimﾒs name and even file fraudulent tax returns.
Bahamian police have also been investigating other Internet based scams under which attempts are made to defraud residents here. One of the most popular is the Nigerian 491 fraud that has been a high priority investigation for years under which “investment” opportunities are pitched to unsuspecting individuals and companies.
Officer in charge of the Commercial Crimes Unit Assistant Superintendent of Police Drexel Cartwright said in an earlier Bahama Journal interview that gullible persons are being turned into victims by crafty individuals who have managed to survive this long without being caught.
In its alert, the Central Bank urged the public to refer to the IRS suggestions for protecting themselves from falling victim to identity theft.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
