Susan Tiffany, CUNA's director of adult education, warns recipients to report the crime and then hit the delete key. "It's a very convincing-looking scam that's sure to trip up many folks who fear missing out on their stimulus check," says Tiffany.

The e-mail Tiffany received urges the reader to click on a link in the e-mail, fill out a form, and submit the form before June 10 for a speedy refund. The end of the message acknowledges that you may have received the e-mail in your spam folder "because of the large amount of e-mails we are sending out or because of the restrictions implemented by your ISP (Internet service provider)."

Don't fall for that line, either. The message is a ploy to redirect you to the crook's website to capture your personal information and commit fraud.

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, the IRS offers this advice:

• Never provide personal information in response to unsolicited e-mails. The IRS does not initiate contact with you via e-mail messages, nor does the IRS request PINs, passwords, or other access information for your credit card or for other financial accounts.

• Never click on attachments to questionable e-mails. The attachments may contain malicious code that infects your computer with viruses.

• Forward the original message to phishing@irs.gov. However, don't open the message in order to forward it. Create a new message and then drag and drop the original message into the body of the new message. For specific instructions for your e-mail provider (MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Mulberry, and so on), go to irs.gov and type "report phishing" in the search box.

• Report the scam to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Call 800-366-4484 to report misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms, or other IRS property.

• Report this or other suspicious e-mails to the Federal Trade Commission. Go to spam@uce.gov, or call 877-IDTHEFT (877-438-4338).

If you think you've been the victim of ID theft, call one of the three credit bureau fraud units immediately: Experian: 888-397-3742; Equifax: 800-525-6285; TransUnion: 800-680-7289. Then notify creditors, close affected accounts, and file a police report.