The Department of the Treasury's Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established in 1989 by the Secretary in accordance with the Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988. The OIG is headed by an Inspector General who is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The Inspector General reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary and provides the Secretary with independent and objective reviews of the department's operations.
The Inspector General is required to keep both the Secretary and the Congress fully and currently informed about the problems and deficiencies relating to the administration of department programs and operations and the necessity for corrective action. Serving with the Inspector General in the Immediate Office is a Deputy Inspector General.
Current Inspector General
Eric M. Thorson
FRAUD ALERT
INDIVIDUALS CLAIMING
TO BE FROM THE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
There are numerous telephone and email scams in which individuals claim to be employees of the Treasury Department. These scammers often state that they are from the “Department of Legal Affairs,” offer grant money in exchange for you wiring a small payment, or threaten to arrest you within a short period of time unless payment is made. Do not provide personal information or payment to these individuals. Their actions are crimes under Titles 18 and 31 of the United States Code, and the Treasury Office of Inspector General is working to stop them.
If you have received a call or an email that you suspect is fraudulent, report it to
OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov with a description of the communication.
If the call or email contained claims related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or taxes, you must report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at
https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml or 1-800-366-4484.
When reporting a suspicious call, telephone carriers require that you provide the exact date and time that you received the call(s) and the geographic location and time zone where you received the call. For example: “I received a suspicious call from telephone number XXX-XXX-XXX to my home phone in Tallahassee, Florida (Eastern Time Zone) on October 23, 2015 at 9:23AM claiming that there is a legal action against me from the Treasury Department of Legal Affairs.” The Treasury Office of Inspector General may disclose such provided information to telecommunications carriers for their use in identifying and terminating numbers used in the fraud.
UPDATE: IRS Warns DC Area Residents of New Phishing Scam
By Ian Smith • April 6, 2016 • Comments
The IRS is alerting residents in the Washington, DC area of a new phishing scheme being distributed by email.
According to the IRS, the email cites tax fraud and tries to trick victims into verifying “the last four digits of their social security number” by clicking on a link provided with the email.
The criminals specifically state that this is for tax filers in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. As a further attempt to trick residents of the Capital region, the email scam even suggests that information from recent data breaches across the nation may be involved.
Since many current and former federal employees had their personal data left vulnerable from the two data breaches announced by the Office of Personnel Management last year, federal workers should be on alert for these fraudulent emails.
“As we approach the final days of this filing season, we continue to see these tax scams evolve.” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “We don’t send emails like this, and there’s no special effort underway for people in the District, Virginia and Maryland. As these criminals shift their tactics, the IRS remains committed to quickly warning the taxpayers who may be targeted. Taxpayers should be on the lookout for these scams.”
Phishing Schemes and How to Protect Yourself
Phishing is a scam typically carried out with the help of unsolicited email or a fake website that poses as a legitimate site to lure in potential victims and prompt them to provide valuable personal and financial information. Armed with this information, a criminal can commit identity theft or financial theft.
If a taxpayer receives an unsolicited email that appears to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov. Learn more by going to the Report Phishing and Online Scams page.
It is important to keep in mind that the IRS generally does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels. The IRS has information online that can help protect taxpayers from email scams.
- See more at: http://www.fedsmith.com/2016/04/06/irs-warns-dc-area-residents-of-new-phishing-scam/#sthash.p1i354QX.dpuf