Some vital information is simple information. Here’s an example:
If you have not previously been in e-mail contact with the Internal Revenue Service and get an email that looks like it is from IRS, do NOT open it.
If you do open it, do NOT click on any kind of link.
The bad guys out there have figured out that emails that look like they are from IRS get people’s attention.
The IRS Does Not Initiate Contact With A Taxpayer by E-Mail. They also don’t initiate email contacts offering refunds, telling you that there is money in a government trust account for you, or informing you of mistakes on your returns. In fact, the IRS is basically TERRIFIED of the potential for fraud, abuse, and identity theft when dealing with anything online, which is why there is so little you can actually do through the Internet when dealing with IRS.
Here is a press release in which the IRS summarizes several years of warnings about internet scams posing as IRS contacts.