Crooks have tried all sorts of e-mail scams, but almost everyone has figured out that the IRS does not send out notices by e-mail. So crooks have changed their tactics. Now, there are reports of taxpayers receiving by mail (and e-mail) fake notices requiring immediate payment to a P.O. Box. The P.O. Boxes are located in cities where the IRS has service centers, but of course are not IRS P.O. Box addresses.

These scammers have duplicated the look of official IRS mail notices, which to the untrained eye would lead one to believe a notice was really from the IRS.

So be extremely cautious of any notice your client may have received from the IRS. If a notice is demanding immediate payment and there has not been any prior contact by the IRS over the issue, then the notice is probably from a scammer. Reports indicate the initial letters were numbered CP-2000 and did not request payment.

Here is a sample fake IRS CP-2000 Notice supplied by Iowa State University.

You can also compare the notice number to those listed on the IRS website to see if the contents of a suspicious letter match the format of letters sent by the IRS.