The Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers to be on the lookout for bogus e-mails claiming to be from the tax agency.

The IRS has seen a recent increase in these scams. Since November, 101 different scams have been identified, with 20 of those surfacing in June alone. The e-mails are designed to trick recipients into disclosing personal and financial information that could be used to steal their identity and financial assets.

Many of these schemes originate outside the United States. To date, investigations by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration have identified sites hosting more than two dozen IRS-related phishing scams. These scam Web sites have been located in many different countries.

The current scams claim to come from the IRS, tell recipients that they are due a federal tax refund, and direct them to a Web site that appears to be a genuine IRS site. The bogus sites contain forms or interactive Web pages similar to IRS forms or Web pages but which have been modified to request detailed personal and financial information from the e-mail recipients. In addition, e-mail addresses ending with ì.eduî - involving users in the education community - currently seem to be heavily targeted.

The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal information via e-mail. Additionally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.

Tricking consumers into disclosing their personal and financial information, such as secret access data or credit card or bank account numbers, is fraudulent activity which can result in identity theft. Such schemes perpetrated through the Internet are called ìphishingî for information.

The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayerís identity and financial assets. Typically, identity thieves use someoneís personal data to empty the victimís financial accounts, run up charges on the victimís existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victimís name and even file fraudulent tax returns.

The IRS has established an electronic mailbox for taxpayers to send information about suspicious e-mails they receive which claim to come from the IRS. Taxpayers should send the information to: phishing@irs.gov.

The IRSís mail box allows taxpayers to send copies of possibly fraudulent e-mails involving misuse of the IRS name and logo to the IRS for investigation. Instructions on how to properly submit one of these communications to the IRS may be found at its Web site. Enter the term ìphishingî in the search box in the upper right hand corner. Then open the article titled ìHow to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mailsî for the instructions. Following these instructions helps ensure that the bogus e-mails relayed by taxpayers retain critical elements found in the original e-mail. The IRS can use the information, URLs and links in the bogus e-mails to trace the hosting Web sites and alert authorities to help shut down these fraudulent sites.

However, due to the volume the new mailbox is expected to receive, the IRS will not be able to acknowledge receipt or reply to taxpayers who submit their bogus e-mails.

For information on preventing or handling the aftermath of identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commissionís consumer (http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/index.html) and OnGuardOnLine (http://onguardonline.gov/index.html) Web sites. Click on ìTopicsî to find the identity theft and phishing areas on OnGuardOnLine.

For information on identity theft prevention and victim assistance in relation to tax administration, visit the IRS Identity Theft Web page which can be found at its Web site. Enter the term ìidentity theftî in the search box in the upper right hand corner.