Tax Scam Warning

Income tax time, more than ever, means be on guard for scammers looking to steal everything from your refund to your account numbers.

And every year the thieves get more creative.

It took only 30 seconds for Debbie Lutchkus to realize the email she received offering a tax rebate was fake.

But, for a moment, she wondered.

"Well, initially I did, because I saw the subject line, which piqued my interest enough to open it. And the logo looked like an IRS symbol," said Lutchkus.

The IRS says scam emails are more prevalent than ever coming from 50 countries.

They offer tax refunds, link you to fake websites, and ask for you bank info.

"The IRS does not send out unsolicited emails asking for financial information," said Mike Dobzinski of the Internal Revenue Service.

Dobzinski gives this same interview every year.

But the old scams are coupled with new ones.

Like this one asking you to fill out a PDF with your date of birth, passport, social, bank accounts, even mother's maiden name!

Fax it to a New York area code.

And this year, the IRS is opening a new "online fraud detection and prevention office" at irs.gov, where you'll find sample scams, tips, and a hotline to help victims.

That number is 800-908-4490.

You can also send scam IRS emails or websites to phishing@irs.gov.

"Last year, between 2007-08, we shut down more than 2000. But 4000 came into existence. So we only got 50% of them. So they seem to be surfacing as quickly as we find them," said Dobzinski.

Usually the scam websites dissolve within hours, but not before somebody gets tricked.

Here's how to spot a fake.

Look for spelling and grammar errors, amateurish design, any mention of a refund.

And, if it doesn’t use "dot gov," it's not real.