Fake IRS e-mail sent in wildfire scam

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is warning of an e-mail scam claiming to raise money for victims of Southern California's wildfire.

The e-mail purports to be from the IRS, but anyone who clicks on the donation link is taken to a phony Web site asking for personal bank account numbers, CNN reported Saturday.

"This is very reprehensible," IRS spokeswoman Michelle Lamishaw said Friday. "It's an opportunistic attempt to profit at the expense of the victims of these wildfires as well as the generosity of people who would like to help them."

The phony e-mail uses the IRS logo and is sophisticated in design, said Lamishaw, nothing the IRS as a rule does not send e-mails.

The recent fires in California are blamed for 14 deaths and burned more than 508,000 acres, destroying about 1,600 homes, CNN reported.