I got an email from what looked like the IRS that would allow me to see when I am going to get my Stimulus Payment, but when I clicked on the link, it went to a dead page. Are these emails a scam? –Brenda

The skilled crafting of “phishing” scams, which are attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive or personal information by posing as a trustworthy entity, is getting more creative. Creative phishing scams make it increasingly more difficult for the average user to tell a scam from a legitimate message.

One of the more commonly faked entities in these scams is the Internal Revenue Service because everything starts and ends with your social security number.

If you aren’t paying attention and assume your working with the IRS, you will likely enter your social security number without thinking about it.

The phishing scam policing arm for the IRS, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), has shut down over 1,600 phishing Web sites in the past couple of years and there is nothing to suggest that this won’t increase in the future.

The fact that the link in the message went to a dead page is a pretty good indicator that the message was the lure to get you to go to one of the rogue info stealing pages that thankfully has already been shut down.

These days, phishing sites are shut down within hours of launching as the various reporting entities have gotten pretty efficient at the process. Back when phishing scams first started appearing, the average lifespan of a fake page was over two days, which allowed the bad guys to collect more info with less work.

The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mail messages, warnings or request for your information, so unless you are actively working with someone at the IRS, you should assume that anything claiming to be from the IRS is bogus. (There are also a number of phishing e-mails circulating that claim that you are entitled to a refund, which you can receive by clicking on a link in the fake message.)

What’s making this latest scam so likely to catch folks off guard is all the talk in the news about the “Stimulus Package Payment” from the IRS to taxpayers.

Any number of e-mails may come your way that encourage you to check your status by going to the “Where’s my Stimulus Payment” link on the IRS Web site.

While there actually is a page to do just that, creating something that looks exactly like it is very easy and is in circulation at malicious Web sites around the world.

The key is to never click on a link in a message of this nature, but rather, manually launch your browser and type the address of the resource in yourself.

That allows you to independently confirm or dispel the information in the message without putting yourself at risk. In the case of the Stimulus Payment, if you go directly to the IRS’ Web site, you will see a link right on the home page that will take you to the Stimulus Payment resources.

If you want to report this or any future phishing attempts that poses as the IRS, you can send a copy to phishing@irs.gov or file an online report at the TIGTA Web site.

Ken Colburn
President of Data Doctors Computer Services, Host of the award-winning Computer Corner radio show, and Author of Computer Q&A in the East Valley Tribune newspapers.

Gnomie fendabenda writes in with his top 5 favorite anti-viruses:

1. Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal
   Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal offers excellent anti-virus protection, perhaps unsurpassed in its ability to unpack and scan compressed files — something that trips up a lot of other vendors. Should be used in conjunction with a firewall.

2. BitDefender Antivirus Plus
   Softwin’s BitDefender Professional protects against viruses, spyware, and instant messaging threats, as well as offering firewall rules to block undesirable traffic and a privacy gateway to keep your identity and preferences private while surfing the Internet.

3. McAfee VirusScan Plus
   McAfee VirusScan Plus is an ideal candidate for those seeking an anti-virus/firewall combination without all the bloat of traditional Internet security suites. McAfee VirusScan Plus makes an easy job of removing adware and spyware, something not all anti-virus products deliver.

4. Eset Nod32
   Nod32 features a small footprint, low performance hit, and fast scan speeds, providing focused virus protection ideal for gamers or those with an older PC. Should be used in conjunction with a firewall. This is also a very nice anti-virus for computer experts, and nerds like Chris himself :) As it provides more use for those smarter few of us that want more features and need more protection.

5. Panda Antivirus 2007
   Panda Antivirus 2007 combines anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-phishing with its highly touted behavior-based TruPrevent Technology. License covers use on two computers and includes free tech support via email (telephone support options are also available).

I received this email today (01/07/08). Every link on the page except for the link to view the card is a genuine link to the Hallmark site. The viewing link is to an executable file. I didn’t take it any farther than that. You may also notice that “recieved” is misspelled twice. If you’ve opened this booger, you’d better do some serious scanning. If you can’t read this email at all because your PC crashed, well…

It’s always possible this is some kind of a safe joke. It’s also possible that the Bush twins will be going to Iraq — in uniform.