CALIFORNIA — The Internal Revenue Service is warning citizens to not fall for a new IRS-impersonation scam spreading via email throughout the country.

The IRS imposters will send official-looking emails, with such subject lines as "Automatic Income Tax Reminder" or "Electronic Tax Return Reminder," phishing efforts intended to capture readers' personal details.

"The IRS does not send emails about your tax refund or sensitive financial information," IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said. "This latest scheme is yet another reminder that tax scams are a year-round business for thieves. We urge you to be on-guard at all times."

The scam was detected this week, with emails showing an IRS.gov-like website with details pretending to be about the taxpayer's refund, electronic return or tax account, the agency said.

The emails contain a "temporary password" or "one-time password" to "access" the files to submit the refund, but when taxpayers try to access these, it turns out to be a malicious file, according to officials.

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This latest scam uses dozens of such websites posing as IRS.gov, that makes shutdowns challenging, officials said.

"By infecting computers with malware," the IRS said, "these imposters may gain control of the taxpayer's computer or secretly download software that tracks every keystroke, eventually giving them passwords to sensitive accounts, such as financial accounts."

The IRS reiterated that it never initiates contact with taxpayers by email, texts or social media to request personal or financial information, including requests for PIN numbers, passwords or access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts. See Report Phishing and Online Scams for further information.