RIYADH, 26 April 2006 — The US Embassy has advised residents of the Kingdom that a widely circulating fax letter, allegedly from “the American Tax Commission,” seeking detailed personal and business financial data, such as bank account numbers, is an apparent hoax, a so-called “phishing” scam, to commit identity theft.
Andrew Mitchell, press and information attaché at the US Embassy, pointed out that, for one thing, the name of the federal department in charge of tax collection is the Internal Revenue Service.
Mitchell told Arab News that neither the US government nor any bona fide financial institution requests such personal or financial data via unsolicited email, fax, phone or mail.
“The embassy strongly recommends that any individual receiving such an unsolicited request for personal data not respond. If the request seems to come from an institution with which the recipient does business, the recipient may wish to contact the institution directly for confirmation via a known number or address. Never respond directly to an address or number contained in an unsolicited communication,” Mitchell said.
