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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:45 p.m., Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Credit union, IRS 'phishing e-mails' reported

Advertiser Staff

Members of the Kauai Community Credit Union are the target of yet another "phishing e-mail," while a fake e-mail purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service is being sent to some e-mail accounts in Hawai'i.

The latest Kauai Community Credit Union e-mail invites people to take a survey on its customer service and provides a link to another page where people are promised $90 for filling out an online questionnaire. It also asks people to to provide their full name, along with their ATM card number and PIN information to access the account.

Kauai Community Credit Union has warned members about the bogus e-mails in the past and said that members should not reply to e-mails that ask for personal or financial information. It also warns members against clicking on links within messages.

A Hawai'i Kai resident reported receiving an e-mail purporting to be from the IRS just after he had filed his taxes online earlier this week.

The fraudulent message alerts people that they're due a tax refund and that they should look at a message in an attached file.

"We have sent you the form as an attachment file to prevent fraudulent activity and further information theft," the e-mail signed by "taxpayer advocate" Phillip McCrevis says.

The IRS has warned against such fake e-mails and says it does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail or request detailed personal information through e-mail.

It tells taxpayers they should not open any attachments to questionable e-mails, which may contain malicious codes that will infect computers.