IDENTITY THIEVES HAVE

found a way to make tax season even more taxing.

The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a press release warning consumers about a slew of new scams where identity thieves contact taxpayers pretending to be IRS agents.

"Filing season always triggers a lot of scams," says Michelle Lamishaw, an IRS spokeswoman. "There are so many even we can't keep them straight anymore." Many are newfangled twists on age-old frauds, such as the year-round streams of spam promising to unearth unclaimed tax refunds.

Here are the three latest scams the IRS is alerting consumers about this year:

Rebates

President Bush's economic stimulus package, which proposes tax rebates of $600 to $1,200 to individuals and married couples, has yet to pass the Senate. But a few industrious scammers are already hard at work exploiting it. Claiming to be an IRS employee, identity thieves call consumers and insist that they must provide their bank account information in order to receive their rebate. If the consumer refuses to divulge the details, the scammer tells them they're not going to receive the rebate.

Just hang up on anyone calling you about the tax rebate. "President Bush will make sure the signing of this bill is on the six o'clock news," says John W. Roth, a senior tax analyst with trade publisher CCH. Even when it does pass, the amount of the credit you receive is based on this year's return. You won't see any IRS communications about your specific eligibility until after filing season, he says. And those would be sent by mail, not via email or phone.

Refunds

If an email promising a tax refund pops up in your mailbox, delete it. These scam emails will address you by name and promise you a rebate of a specific amount. The idea is to try and entice you to follow a link and enter personal and financial data in order to claim your rebate.

There's also a new phone version, dubbed by the IRS as the "Paper Check" scam. A caller claiming to be an IRS employee informs you that a refund check made out to you has gone uncashed. You're asked to provide your bank account number so that the refund may be sent electronically.

Audits

Banking on the almost-universal fear of being audited by the IRS are identity thieves who send personalized emails, informing recipients that they are a subject of an audit and instructing them to follow links to forms that collect personal and financial information.

Treat any nonmailed communications that are supposedly from the IRS with plenty of skepticism. The agency's employees just don't reach out to taxpayers by email or phone. "Normally, things [like refunds or audits] are addressed through notices in the mail," says the IRS's Lamishaw.

Although it's true an agent might follow up by phone if the issue is critical and you have been unresponsive to mailings, it's highly unlikely you'll be required to provide sensitive personal or financial data. "The IRS will not ask for your Social Security number because they already have it," says Roth. The same goes for your bank account number. (If you requested direct deposit on your latest return, they have it. If not, mailing a check to the most current address on file is the standard procedure.)

"There's a common sense test that has to be passed," says Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of tax for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Delete any emails you receive, without clicking on any enclosed links. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be an IRS agent, insist on calling back after verifying his or her identity. Ask the caller for his name, agent ID number and office location. Then head to IRS.gov to find the phone number to reach out to that local office directly.